Louder Than Thunder
by neverlands-star
Summary: This is the story of Glee members senior year. With a few new students and new competition this year will be more intense than ever. Includes people from the Glee Project.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N~ So I've seen a few other fics like this, but I wanted to do one myself. A few from The Glee Project will be in here along with my OC Alyssa…**

**I decided to just go with their real names because I'm lazy like that! :D I'm not used to writing in third person so I'm giving that a shot too. I'm going to try as hard as I can to nail everybody's personalities. I'm going by what I know about the Glee Project people as far as personality goes. I just started watching it the other day. :D**

**Disclaimer~ I own nothing except for Alyssa**

**Chapter 1**

Alyssa stared at the sign up sheet for glee club for a few mere seconds, trying to decide whether or not she should sign it. Back at her old school they hadn't had a glee club so it would be a new experience. Plus Alyssa _did _like to sing.

The girl bit her bottom lip as she reached into her black messenger bag with the abstract type design on the front to pull her pen out. She scribbled her name onto the sheet, if a bit messily, due to the Geometry and U.S. History book she was balancing in her other arm. _Alyssa K. Vale._

Above her name were a collection of a few more names. Names such as Cameron, Alex, and Lindsay.

She dropped the pen back into her bag before she began walking back down the hall to her English class. She normally walked at a hurried pace, habit from her old school, but today she took her time. Being a new student meant she wouldn't really get into any trouble for being late. All she'd have to do was claim that she'd lost her way.

Alyssa's recently cut dirty blonde hair hung a good two inches above her shoulders. She was dressed a pair of dark jeans along with a black t-shirt that had 'Got Talent' scrawled across it in neon green. Her shirt hung loosely on her shoulders, reaching to just right above her bellybutton, but underneath it she wore a neon blue tank to contrast with the green and black. To top off her look she'd went with her black high top converse, mostly because that was the only kind of shoes she owned.

The girl had learned in the past not to wear her converse with skinny jeans, which was why she didn't wear them. Being only 5_"_2 she wore a size seven and a half in shoes. She knew it was a mistake to wear her Converse with skinny jeans because then she looked like she had clown feet. Any other kinds of shoes, she was fine, but her Converse didn't make her feet look any smaller. She was already teased for being sixteen and as short as she was so she didn't want to give kids any other reason to make fun of her.

Alyssa made it into class just as the bell rang, earning herself a look from the teacher. Alyssa, however, brushed the look off and took her seat in the very back of the classroom so she could avoid getting called on in class. She wasn't good with new people. There were always those few people she could be open with as soon as she met them, but more often than not she found herself shying away from strangers.

Even back in Arkansas at the school she'd been tending ever since she was a kid she wasn't as open as she could be. She was afraid of being hurt, or betrayed by a close friend because that had happened to her a few years ago. That was a story she'd tried to forget.

Alyssa scribbled her notes on Greek Mythology in one of her spare notebooks. Back at her old school she hadn't had much time to study mythology so this was something she was looking forward to seeing as how she'd always found the subject interesting.

"I'm going to pass your Greek Mythology books out in a few moments. I want the first three chapters read by Friday. So I'll know that you actually read it I want you to write a short summary on what the chapters were about." Mrs. Banks rambled on for a while longer before she finally decided to pass the mythology books out to us.

The boy that sat in front of me turned around to hand my book to me, flashing me a quick smile before he turned around.

Alyssa tapped her fingers on her desk, attempting to think of a song she could sing for her audition tomorrow.

* * *

><p>During lunch Rachel Berry found herself scanning the place for the kids that had signed up for glee. It wasn't hard to point out the new kids, but putting names to faces was a whole other story. "Okay so we're looking for Cameron, Alex, Lindsay, and a girl named Alyssa." Rachel said, pointing to the list of names that she'd slapped down on the table.<p>

The Glee members leaned over to look at the names. "Okay so _why_ are we looking for these kids? We'll see them tomorrow when they audition." Quinn asked Rachel, looking up at the other girl.

"_Because_ guy's we're _graduating_ this year. Don't you want to see who our future 'successors' are? If they'll be any good?" Rachel made a motion with her hands, staring at her fellow gleeks with a big smile on her face.

"Not really." Santana said, pretended to be board by examining her painted fingernails.

Rachel pursed her lips as she sat down on at the picnic table besides Finn. She began tapping her fingers on the picnic table, a million thoughts running through her head as she did. She'd called the glee members together to discuss this but they didn't even look interested in the new potential glee kids. The brunette almost couldn't _believe_ that this was their last year of high school. After graduation she'd be off to New York with Kurt to become a Broadway star. She could see it in her mind now.

"Hey guys!" Kurt's voice interrupted Rachel's reverie. Kurt sat beside her, sporting a grin. "Did I miss anything?" He asked, glancing sideways at Rachel.

"Not really." Santana repeated, with a little more agitation in her voice this time.

Rachel sighed, apparently this wasn't as important to them as it was to her. She wanted Glee to keep on growing until they were the very best so she _had_ to know who all was interested. "Can _you_ point out any of the kids?" Rachel inquired as Kurt took the small list of names from her.

Kurt tapped his fingers on the table much like Rachel had been doing just a while ago, only not quite as rushed as what she'd been. "Well…" Kurt raised his head, eyes scanning the area. Kurt's eyes scanned the outdoor commons until his eyes landed on a face he must have recognized. "_That_ girl over there is Lindsay, she's a freshman this year. She transferred from Carmel High. Then those three over there," He moved his pointer finger to where it was pointing at three new faces sitting at a table by themselves, "Are Alyssa, Alex, and Cameron. The guy with the scarf is Alex. He's a freshman too. The girl is Alyssa from Arkansas. Then the boy with the glasses is Cameron Mitchell. They're both sophomores this year."

"And how do you know this?" Finn asked incredulously as he took in the new faces.

"I talked to them." Kurt rolled his eyes like it was obvious and Rachel wondered why _she_ hadn't decided to just go and talk to them.

"Now we just have to see if they can sing." Rachel declared with a smile. She directed her gaze back on the kids again. Lindsay was sitting with the Cheerios, something that she found surprising. Was she planning on trying out for the Cheerios too? Then she looked at the table where the trio of kids were sitting by themselves, laughing. Rachel was bursting with excitement, ready to get to know these people and figure out who was going to be her future competition.

**So I need help with audition songs? I don't really know who's going to sing what song so send in your suggestions! I have a few picked out but not sure so give me song suggestions! Haha. I want to know what you think about this story so I'll know whether to continue or not! Constructive criticism would be nice so I'll know how I can improve. Other Glee Project cast members will be in the other chapter...**

**Audition Songs:**

**Cameron: Tonight Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae maybe? Any other suggestions?**

**Alex: ?**

**Lindsay: ?**

**Alyssa: ?**

_**June 27**_

**Okay so I've made a few changes to the chapter, I've decided to take Sage out because I don't really like her that much...**


	2. Auditions

**Chapter 2**

Marissa sat down in one of the seats of the auditorium where Glee was holding their auditions at. She _knew_ it was social suicide to even be here, but she couldn't let that get in her way of doing something she loved. She took the time to look around at the faces of the Glee clubbers already here. They were all familiar faces asides from the few new ones who were more than likely here for auditions. She recognized one of the boys from her Geometry class, and that happened to be the foreign exchange student, Damian. Marissa wouldn't have guessed he would have wanted to join Glee, she figured that he was just here checking it out like she was.

There were two other girls here as well, not to mention the two boys. She easily recognized Alex and Cameron who weren't new students, however the two girls were unfamiliar faces. "Okay…I guess we can get this started." Mr. Schuester announced. "Who's first?" He asked, sounded excited to hear the new voices that would possibly join their Glee club.

Marissa watched as Cameron took the stage first. He took the mike in his hands and said, "Hey I'm Cameron and I'll be singing _Stop This Train_ by John Mayer." At his cue the music started to play and his rich voice began filling the entire auditorium much to the gleeks surprise.

_No I'm not color blind_  
><em>I know the world is black and white<em>  
><em>Try to keep an open mind but...<em>  
><em>I just can't sleep on this tonight<em>  
><em>Stop this train I want to get off and go home again<em>  
><em>I can't take the speed it's moving in<em>  
><em>I know I can't<em>  
><em>But honestly won't someone stop this train<em>

_Don't know how else to say it, don't want to see my parents go_  
><em>One generation's length away<em>  
><em>From fighting life out on my own<em>

_Stop this train_  
><em>I want to get off and go home again<em>  
><em>I can't take the speed it's moving in<em>  
><em>I know I can't but honestly won't someone stop this train<em>

_So scared of getting older_  
><em>I'm only good at being young<em>  
><em>So I play the numbers game to find a way to say that life has just begun<em>  
><em>Had a talk with my old man<em>  
><em>Said help me understand<em>  
><em>He said turn 68, you'll renegotiate<em>  
><em>Don't stop this train<em>  
><em>Don't for a minute change the place you're in<em>  
><em>Don't think I couldn't ever understand<em>  
><em>I tried my hand<em>  
><em>Cam, honestly we'll never stop this train<em>

_See once in a while when it's good_  
><em>It'll feel like it should<em>  
><em>And they're all still around<em>  
><em>And you're still safe and sound<em>  
><em>And you don't miss a thing<em>  
><em>'til you cry when you're driving away in the dark.<em>

_Singing stop this train I want to get off and go home again_  
><em>I can't take this speed it's moving in<em>  
><em>I know I can't<em>  
><em>Cause now I see I'll never stop this train<em>

When the music faded Cameron was left standing there, not the least breathless. "Cameron you're great! Welcome to Glee."

Everyone on the auditorium clapped and a grin suddenly plastered itself on the boy's face. Marissa found herself grinning too as she clapped, watching him walk off the stage so another could take his place. It turned out to be one of the new girls that took the stage. She adjusted her black and gray striped boyfriend tank that looked like it had a violet undershirt underneath and then cleared her throat as if she were nervous. Actually Marissa could _tell_ she was nervous by the way the kept tapping her fingers on her thighs. She leaned forwards, resting her elbows on her knees to watch the girl more closely, noting how she was tapping her right foot as well. What was this girl's problem? Was she really_ that _nervous?

"Um…My name's Alyssa and I'm going to sing _99 Times_ by Kate Voegele." The music began to play and she took a shaky breath before belting out the lyrics to a song Marissa had only heard on the radio once or twice before.

_So, you see_  
><em>You've got me back again for more<em>  
><em>And it seems<em>  
><em>Your song is in my head<em>  
><em>This is war<em>  
><em>Mystery; how I could feel you breathe me<em>

_I was sure you would keep_  
><em>Every promise; you would keep<em>  
><em>Every word<em>

_Well,_  
><em>I try to put your stories in line<em>  
><em>But nothing adds up right<em>

_For every 99 times_  
><em>You looked me in the eye,<em>  
><em>You looked me in the eye<em>  
><em>And swore you weren't lying<em>  
><em>Well, I was so blind<em>  
><em>I never saw the signs<em>  
><em>I'm getting out tonight<em>  
><em>And you're not invited<em>

After the first few verses she seemed to loosen up a little bit on stage, not quite as tense as she had been when she'd first started. Her voice had a bit of a pop-rock feel to it so the song was a good choice for her to sing.

_Its a shame_  
><em>That you left me hanging like you did<em>  
><em>It was brave<em>  
><em>But it was much more foolish<em>  
><em>Don't you think? Don't you think?<em>  
><em>Cause you know I won't be satisfied<em>  
><em>Until you realize<em>

_For every 99 times_  
><em>You looked me in the eye,<em>  
><em>You looked me in the eye<em>  
><em>And swore you weren't lying<em>  
><em>Well, I was so blind<em>  
><em>I never saw the signs<em>  
><em>I'm getting out tonight<em>  
><em>And you're not invited<em>

_These things are all so typical  
>These things are unforgivable<br>I'm gone and you're invisible now  
>Don't let me catch you followin'<br>Don't ask, cause I'm not offering  
>You've caused enough of my suffering,<em>

_For every 99 times_  
><em>You looked me in the eye,<em>  
><em>You looked me in the eye<em>  
><em>And swore you weren't lying<em>  
><em>Well, I was so blind<em>  
><em>I never saw the signs<em>  
><em>I'm getting out tonight<em>

_For every 99 times_  
><em>You looked me in the eye,<em>  
><em>You looked me in the eye<em>  
><em>And swore you weren't lying<em>  
><em>Well, I was so blind<em>  
><em>I never saw the signs<em>  
><em>I'm getting out tonight<em>  
><em>And you're not invited<em>

At the end of the song she'd completely relaxed on stage, smiling, and left breathless from singing the song. "That was great Alyssa. Your in." The dirty blonde left the stage with a happy look on her face and a huge grin despite the fact of how nervous she'd been earlier.

A dark haired girl took the other's place, giving everybody a bright smile. "Hello my name is Lindsay and I will be performing the song _On My Own _from the musical _Les Miserables._"

"Okay Lindsay, anytime your ready." Mr. Schuester said, tapping his clipboard with the pen he had.

_And now I'm all alone again nowhere to turn, no one to go to_  
><em>without a home without a friend without a face to say hello to <em>  
><em>And now the night is near<em>  
><em>Now I can make believe he's here<em>

_Sometimes I walk alone at night_  
><em>When everybody else is sleeping<em>  
><em>I think of him and then I'm happy<em>  
><em>With the company I'm keeping<em>  
><em>The city goes to bed<em>  
><em>And I can live inside my head<em>

_On my own_  
><em>Pretending he's beside me<em>  
><em>All alone<em>  
><em>I walk with him till morning<em>

_Without him  
>I feel his arms around me<br>And when I lose my way I close my eyes  
>And he has found me<em>

In the rain the pavement shines like silver  
>All the lights are misty in the river<br>In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight

_And all I see is him and me forever and forever _

_And I know it's only in my mind_  
><em>That I'm talking to myself and not to him<em>  
><em>And although I know that he is blind<em>  
><em>Still I say, there's a way for us <em>

_I love him_  
><em>But when the night is over<em>  
><em>He is gone<em>  
><em>The river's just a river<em>

__Without him  
>The world around me changes<br>The trees are bare and everywhere  
>The streets are full of strangers<em>_

I love him  
>But every day I'm learning<br>All my life  
>I've only been pretending<br>Without me  
>His world would go on turning<br>A world that's full of happiness  
>That I have never known<p>

I love him  
>I love him<br>I love him

__But only on my own__

The first bit's of the song that came out of Lindsay's mouth were perfectly in tune and not the least bit off pitch which made Marissa wonder if the girl had perhaps been classically trained. Marissa glanced over at Rachel to gauge her reaction which seemed to be one of shock at the younger girl's talent. She smirked, thinking that perhaps Rachel Berry was going to have more competition this year than she would have thought.

* * *

><p>Damian was trying to settle on whether or not to join the Glee club. He wasn't a bad singer, that much he knew, however from what he'd already been told and <em>seen<em> then it was social suicide to even _think_ of joining Glee. He wasn't particularly over fond of the idea that he'd probably receive more than his share of slushy facials. It seemed as if they were trashed more by the athletic department than anybody else.

"Are you going to audition?" A girl's voice broke him from his current thoughts and he raised his eyes to look at the pretty girl standing before him. It was the girl who'd just gotten of stage with the amazing blue eyes that he found he couldn't quite tear his eyes away from.

"No I'm just here to watch." He answered, his Irish accent very prominent.

"Oh well you should join. I'm Lindsay and _you_ must be the new foreign exchange student." Lindsay held her hand out to him with that same bright smile still plastered on her face.

"Yes I am. Damian, nice to meet you Lindsay." Damian grabbed her hand to shake it, surprised at the firm grip she had on his hand as she shook it.

"Well I'm sure if you have a song ready by tomorrow then Mr. Schuester will let you in. Really the auditions are only to evaluate how good you are so your sure to get in." She rambled on and on after that, making random gestures with her hands. Damian sat and listened to her, becoming slightly uninterested as she chattered on. After a few more minutes he began to wonder if she would _ever_ shut up. He almost felt like stuffing a sock in her mouth at one point to get her to be quiet. But instead he rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. _Crazy Americans._ Was the only thing coherent thought running through his head.

_A/N~ So chapter two…Thanks for the reviews, favorites, alerts, etc. So…I decided to go with Stop This Train for Cameron like was suggested (thank you!). I listened to it on YouTube and LOVED his cover of the song. Oh and you might notice that in the song I changed 'John' to 'Cam' because...well his name's not John it's Cameron...Guy's got an amazing voice…I almost had a heart attack when he was in the bottom three. Definitely glad they didn't kick him off, cause he's by far my favorite._

_Anyhoo anybody recognize the song Lindsay sang? It should be familiar…considering…well I wanna see if anybody knows…_

_More Glee Project cast members will be in here…slowly going to bring them in…_

_Annddd on the 'Vulnerability' episode there was a part where Lindsay kept on talking, and talking, and talking and Damian said something about stuffing a sock in her mouth to get her to shut up which I liked so mentioned it here. Haha so enough of my rambling…what did you guys think? Leaves meh a review so I'll know. Oh and any songs you'd like to see sang? =) _

_**Songs Used**_

_**Stop This Train~ John Mayer**_

_**99 Times~ Kate Voegele**_

_**On My Own~ Les Miserables (So you know the name but who sang it in Glee?)**_


	3. Why?

**Chapter 3**

Alyssa groaned and shoved the thick Geometry book as far as she could without knocking it off the table. _Math_. The most complicated thing she'd ever encountered in her short sixteen years. She just didn't _understand_ it. All of the complicated problems, the endless shapes, and equations. It took forever just to do one measly problem, and then it would turn out she hadn't even done it right.

It had been a week since school had started and she was already piled up with homework, especially Geometry homework. "Hey do you need help?" Alyssa started at the sound of an unfamiliar voice and she glanced up to see the slender red haired girl who'd been at Glee auditions Tuesday. She hadn't actually auditioned, but it seemed as if she'd been there to watch. Alyssa had wondered afterwards if she was interested in joining, but perhaps afraid to. From what she'd seen the Glee club wasn't very appreciated around here. Slushy facials seemed normal around here. Not to mention they were very hard to get out. She still hadn't gotten the red stain out of her white Fox Riders shirt she'd worn Wednesday.

"Yes." Alyssa grumbled as she gestured towards the book sitting a few inches away from her. The girl laughed quietly and took a seat next to Alyssa, pulling the Geometry book towards them.

"I'm Marissa. Alyssa right?" Marissa asked, her cool gray eyes glancing over at Alyssa who nodded.

"Right you are." Alyssa confirmed, giving the thick book a wary look that she quickly turned to the other girl. "Tell me Marissa. Why are you helping me?"

Surprise flitted across Marissa's face as she looked up at Alyssa. "You looked like you needed help. If you don't then I can leave…"

"No! You don't have to leave, I was just curious. Not everybody at McKinley's very welcoming." Alyssa explained. She wasn't going to allow herself to pass up the chance of making another friend here. Plus Marissa seemed nice; she didn't want to run the girl off.

"That happens when you join Glee." Marissa said, lips curling upwards into a small smile.

Alyssa's hazel eyes widened and she shook her head, "Well it's not that…okay it is." She huffed, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table. "I'm _not_ a hillbilly just because I'm from Arkansas." She stated with a new determination in her eyes. "Sure I was born there," She nodded, "But my mom likes to travel so we moved around a lot. After I was born we spent five years there, so I was told, and then moved to Florida."

"Well that's not so bad." Marissa commented.

"You're right it's not." Alyssa admitted with a smile. "We did move back to Arkansas when I was fourteen though. Now…I saw you at the Glee auditions…so why didn't you…ya know…_audition?_" She questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"O-oh. I was just watching." Marissa mumbled under her breath, ducking her head to look down at Alyssa's Geometry book.

"Well you should join if you want. Don't let the jocks or any of the other idiots bother you. We should be allowed to do what we want without being judged for what we like doing." Alyssa shrugged, and then brightened up immediately as she was struck with an idea. "I've got it. How about this, if you tutor me and I pass my Geometry test this afternoon then you have to join Glee."

Alyssa watched as the other girl thought this over. At first Alyssa didn't think she would agree, but apparently she'd gotten a look at the previous work Alyssa had done on the math problems because Marissa reluctantly nodded her head. "I guess…"

Alyssa grinned and then glanced down at the book and said, "Well I guess if I'm going to pass my Geometry test we better get busy."

* * *

><p>"You did <em>not<em> pass." Marissa objected as Alyssa held her math test up triumphantly, pointing at the big red numbers on the front page. Alyssa was trying to balance her lunch tray in one hand while she held the paper up. She was wearing a delighted grin on her face, obviously convinced that she'd won.

Alyssa and Marissa sat down at the picnic table. "Just for you to know, a D is _passing_. I asked Mr. Stevens and he even said so." Alyssa stated as she shoved the test into her messenger bag so she could start eating now that she'd proven her point.

Marissa sighed, twirling a piece of her red hair around her finger. "Fine." She watched Alyssa grin. The girl seemed glad to have made another friend and Marissa couldn't blame her. So far nobody outside of Glee had bothered to talk to her and if so it was to mock her for being in Glee. Then again it seemed like everybody in Glee were mocked.

"Alyssa, Marissa." Marissa glanced up to see Cameron sit down beside her. Her heart stopped at the sight of him, the boy she'd been crushing on all through middle school and high school. "Hey your names rhyme."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "No crap" She muttered, bit her lip as if to keep from smiling as she pushed her food around on her plate. "So Cameron what should Marissa sing for her Glee audition?"

Surprise flitted across the boy's face. "You're auditioning for Glee? I didn't think it was your kind of thing."

Light pink dusted Marissa's cheeks as she turned her eyes away from him and to her food. "Y-yeah Alyssa talked me into it…" Then she glanced over at Alyssa to narrow her eyes just the slightest. "It wasn't really a fair deal though." Cameron raised an eyebrow as if to question what the two were talking about.

"I _said _that I only had to pass the test and you agreed. There was no specified grade."

Marissa rolled her eyes. "Okay fine. You got me…for now." She cast her eyes around the picnic table that was bare due to the fact it was just the three of them sitting here. "Where's Alex? I thought he sat with you guys at lunch?" She asked curiously.

"Ever since auditions he's been hanging with Kurt and the other Glee girls." Cameron explained, pointing his fork towards the table were a few of the Glee members were sitting. Alex, like Cameron had said, was sitting over with them laughing at something that had been said.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" The trio looked up to see Damian standing at the of the picnic table with his eyes squinted because the sun was shining directly on him.

"Sure." Alyssa said, smiling at him. "I'm Alyssa."

"Um, Damian." He returned the smile as he sat down, giving the outside are a suspicious look which Marissa found odd.

Cameron chuckled. "Are you hiding from somebody?"

Damian nodded, "Yes, actually. Um…you know Lindsay?" When the other three nodded he continued on, "Well she's been following me around talking my ear off." A wry smile was shared between Cameron and Alyssa, something that Marissa noticed right off, as if they knew something she didn't.

"That doesn't surprise me." Cameron commented.

"Oh by the way Damian, I love your accent. Irish right?"

When Damian nodded Alyssa smiled at her correct guess. Her smile probably would have lasted longer if Damian wouldn't have said, "I like your accent too."

After that her smiled faded, replaced by a scowl as she proclaimed, "I have no accent!" She denied it, despite the fact that her southern accent was making its rare appearance as she spoke. Marissa giggled at the gloomy way Alyssa was now staring at Damian who was looking confused.

"You do too." Cameron argued, earning himself a glare from the other girl. "Hey," He held his hands up, "it's barely noticeable, but it's there."

Alyssa huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face so she could look Marissa straight in the eyes. "Now…_you_ have to pick a song for your auditions…"

_A/N~ So shorter chapter here, nothing too important happened, I was mostly in a hurry when I wrote this. But I will make the next chapter longer! I _should_ be reading Anthem and writing my three page essay for my AP English summer project…BUT I'd rather be writing…Ahem…anyway…_

_Yes I, personally, am not a fan of Lindsay. So far she grates on my nerves, she just seems like that kind of person ya know? _

_Also if Alyssa starts to sound even CLOSE to being Mary-Sueish then point it out to me and I will fix it. I don't want her to be a Sue. No, no, no. _

_Trying to figure out how I'm going to do pairings, love triangles, squares…any ideas? And what song do you think Marissa should sing for her audition? Any ideas? I want your opinion._

_Anyhoo I know I'll continue to ramble on if I don't stop now and you don't want that trust me, because I could ramble on for ages. Leave a review telling me if you think. _


	4. P nk

Chapter 4

New Directions had stolen one of his best singers. Jesse St. James was fuming as he tapped his pen on the clipboard he held in his hand. As the new Vocal Adrenaline coach he was auditioning new teens for Carmel High's glee club. He'd kept a few of the old members, the better ones, but kicked the others out, telling them he wanted a fresh start. He was going to meld Vocal Adrenaline into the perfect Glee club so that they could shatter New Directions dreams of ever winning Nationals. Was it mainly revenge against Rachel Berry? Did he really just want to crush her dreams? Yes. As heartless as it may have seemed that's exactly what it was.

"Next!" He barked into the microphone, leaning back into his chair as a young Latina girl wearing bright pink lipstick took the stage. She was pretty girl, probably a freshman at most. "Who are you and what are you going to sing?" Jesse asked.

"My name is Emily and I'm going to sing 'Grenade' by Bruno Mars." She announced, flicking her glossy black hair over her shoulders and giving him a smile.

"Very well then. Go on." Jesse St. James gestured at the band and they began to play for the girl. When she began singing he noted that she had a nice, unique voice and would fit in well with Vocal Adrenaline, but she wouldn't live up to _her_ standards. The girl he'd lost to New Directions. Lindsay had been a key player in his plan. The young girl was practically a younger replica of Rachel Berry. She had the best voice he'd seen so far out of all the auditions, she was determined and a fierce performer, and would give almost anything to win. Lindsay had come to him one day with unfortunate news that she would be transferring over to the McKinley High. That meant only one thing. Will Schuester would realize the girl's impeccable talent and snatch him up for his own to use.

When Emily finished the song he clapped. "I think you're good Emily. You could use a little work, but I think you'll fit in well with Vocal Adrenaline. Practices start tomorrow. 3:30 to 7:30. If you're late then you're out." Jesse explained to the younger girl, writing her name down on the small list of kids he'd chosen so far. As of now he had a few of the former members along with a boy named Bryce, a Samuel, a girl named Hannah who had transferred from McKinley High, another girl whose name was McKynleigh, and the last girl who looked like she was ten years old but could do something he knew none of the members of New Directions could do. That was jazz. He knew for a fact, from his time spent in their Glee club, that nobody could sing jazz. Not even Miss Rachel Berry.

Which brought him back to Lindsay. She was his only hope to win. Without her he just _knew_ they would lose and New Directions would win if they had her.

Jesse ground his teeth in frustration. He _had_ to take Nationals this year. Jesse didn't care whose feelings he had to hurt or who he had to blackmail, but he _was_ going to get his key player back. No matter what.

* * *

><p>Lindsay was nervous. She normally wouldn't have admitted it, but she was now. Rachel Berry had been eyeing her ever since her audition last week and it was making Lindsay anxious. Not only that but she kept thinking about Jesse St. James, her former coach, who hadn't taken the news that she was transferring very well at all. Actually he had been absolutely <em>livid<em>, ranting on about how he couldn't win without her. About how she was the only one who could take on the famous Rachel Berry.

Well maybe she wasn't _famous_, but she'd heard plenty about Rachel from Jesse who was always comparing Lindsay to her. He stressed the fact that she could be better than Rachel if she wanted and how she was almost there. Jesse told her that she just had to push herself harder.

But after seeing the way Rachel had looked at her she wasn't too sure if she wanted to undermine the older girl. Just from what she'd heard about Rachel she knew the brunette girl was very competitive when it came to solos and Lindsay had hoped to snag a few solos herself. That would all be determined if she could outshine Rachel, which she was starting to doubt.

Lindsay shook the worrisome thoughts from her mind, casting her thoughts to something else. Like the foreign exchange student, Damian. She sighed as she rested her chin in her hands, blocking out the teacher who was droning on and _on_ about Algebra which she had absolutely no interest in learning about. Instead she thought about the cute blue eyed, brunette boy who had been watching glee auditions. She kept scanning the halls for him so she could go up and talk to the boy when he was alone, but every time she spotted him he was with somebody else. Need it be the red haired girl, the lanky boy with the glasses, or the short blonde. Lindsay just simply couldn't catch him _alone_. No matter how hard she tried.

A sigh slipped from in between her lips right as the bell rang.

Lindsay stood, scooping her books and bag up as she did, and then strolled out of the classroom, her last period of the day. They had glee practice today and they were supposed to meet in the choir room. Lindsay's mind wandered to Vocal Adrenaline, wondering what sort of training Jesse was putting them through. She almost felt sorry for whoever joined. She could tell that he was going to press them until they broke. That was why Lindsay had transferred to McKinley in the first place. Jesse had pushed Lindsay to her breaking point and she'd gotten fed up with it.

When Lindsay walked into the choir room heads turned to look at her. Rachel shot her a speculating look as if trying to figure the younger girl out, but Lindsay ignored it and searched for a seat. Her eyes landed on Damian who was sitting with his trio of friends. She flashed him a smile and instantly marched to the empty seat beside him. Once he saw her coming she could have _swore_ he sank down a little in his chair, but that just had to be her imagination.

Lindsay sat down, dropping her backpack on the floor beside her chair. She swiveled in her seat so that she was facing them. The two girls and boy were giving her quizzical looks as if wondering what she was doing. "Hi. My name's Lindsay Pearce." She introduced herself, giving them all movie star smiles. "I'm a friend of Damian's."

Lindsay noticed that Damian's eyes widened and she just flat out ignored the snickers coming from the lanky boy sitting beside Damian. "I'm Cameron." The boy who'd been snickering at Damian cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up.

The red haired girl gave Lindsay a genuine smile. "It's nice to meet you Lindsay. I'm Marissa."

The other girl who currently had her feet propped up on the back of Cameron's chair because, she was sitting behind him along with Marissa, smiled at her. "Alyssa. Pleasure to meet you." There's was something about the girl's voice…she definitely didn't sound like she was from around here. She had an accent, one that was barely there, but most certainly present.

But Lindsay didn't ask where the girl was from. To say, she didn't exactly get a chance because at that very moment Mr. Schuester strolled into the choir room, clapping his hands to get everybody's attention. "It's good to see you guys again. I'd like everybody to welcome our new members." He gestured around at the new faces. "Cameron, Marissa, Lindsay, Alex, and Alyssa." Mr. Schuester sat down on the barstool as he stared out at them. "I thought we should start the year with something fun. I want you guys to choose a song from an artist who changed the scope of pop music, but hasn't received much recognition for her work." He explained and Lindsay noticed the gleeks all exchanging looks, wondering who their teacher was talking about.

"Mr. Schue, sorry to interrupt, but who are you talking about?" Rachel asked, sounding enthusiastic.

Mr. Schuester grinned at them all. "I'm talking about Pink." At that there were several enthusiastic responses from several of the glee members. Lindsay was excited at their assignment, she couldn't wait to tackle one of Pink's songs. She was fairly familiar with several of the pop artist's songs so she couldn't wait to get home and begin practicing. "That's not all. Mr. Figgin's wants us to perform a song for the assembly this Thursday so you guys are going to sing Pink's song _Perfect _for the school." Lindsay noticed that when he said this several of the older members look almost nervous. But she was excited once again. She just couldn't _wait_ to show off her talent to the entire school.

"Now Sectional's isn't too far away and we need to start thinking about our set list…"

* * *

><p>When the glee meeting was over with Lindsay left the choir room feeling confident about the song she had chosen to sing. She was hoping to have it ready by tomorrow or maybe Wednesday, but she was excited. She might have even <em>stayed<em> excited if she would have seen the football players who were heading to football practice. If Lindsay would have been paying attention she _might_ have even seen the cherry slushy's they carrying.

Unfortunately she wasn't so when they threw the chilled beverage at her she let out something in between a gasp and a yelp. They both laughed as they continued to amble down the hallway calling out, "Loser!" over their shoulders.

Lindsay stood there, mouth wide open in shock. They'd _slushied _her. And for what exactly?

"Hey. Lindsay right?" Lindsay broke from her state of shock and looked up only to see Rachel Berry standing before her. Lindsay nodded mutely, but said nothing. "Come on let's go get you cleaned up. You'd better get used to being slushied though. It's completely normal around here. We're not respected at _all_ for our obvious talent, especially me." Rachel led Lindsay to a nearby bathroom where she began to help the girl clean the red slushy off of her. Lindsay frowned at herself in the mirror. She was _never_ going to get the stain out of her shirt and this had just so happened to be her _favorite_ shirt. "You seem like a really talented girl Lindsay. I watched your audition last week. Good choice in song too. I sang that _exact_ song for my audition my sophomore year." Rachel explained as she dabbed at Lindsay's shirt, trying to get some of the slushy off.

Lindsay's frowning face brightened. "Really? I love that song. I bet you were amazing."

Rachel nodded enthusiastically. "Lindsay I think the two of are a lot alike. We could be great friends. But I have to warn you…don't even think about trying to take the lead spot from me. I've worked hard you know." Rachel patted Lindsay's shoulder and gave the younger girl an bright smile. "I'll see you later Lindsay."

Rachel strolled out of the bathroom leaving Lindsay behind and alone. Lindsay stared after the older girl in shock. Did she really think they were a lot alike? Did Lindsay talk as much as Rachel Berry did? And finally was it just Lindsay, or did that sound like a _challenge?_

_A/N~ Okay so I know I didn't do Marissa's audition, but when I started writing I got this idea. And this particular idea involved Jesse…and I wanted to write it before I forgot. Tell me what you guys think about it? And is there anything particular you'd like to see in here? Any drama you want?_

_I figured a rivalry between Rachel and Lindsay would be interesting. They just remind me so freaking much of each other so I figured they might clash…_

_I split the Glee Project Cast up, some at McKinley and some over at Carmel High. Matheus will possibly be in the next chapter…and I think writing him will be interesting… :D_

_Um….oh! Want anybody to sing a particular song by Pink?_

_That's it for my ramblings I guess. Thank you all for the lovely review, I really do appreciate it. So finally review please?_


	5. Breadstix

_**Chapter 5**_

_Hannah was absolutely exhausted _from the strict practice Jesse had put them through, and she'd thought _Geometry_ was hard. After going through that she would much rather sit through hours of endless equations and senseless shapes than do that again. It seemed as if they couldn't do anything right because Jesse had kept making them start over and _over _again. Their male lead, Samuel, hadn't gotten a break either. If anything Jesse had nailed on him more than anybody, stressing that they had to get this right so they could win Sectionals, Regionals, and then Nationals. However maybe Hannah was looking at it the wrong way. Perhaps Jesse just wanted them to sound good.

Hannah shook her head as she flipped her phone out to dial her old friend's cell. Her mom was late to pick her up after practice and she was in need of a ride. Plus Cameron was usually there when she needed him. "Hello?" A voice said on the other end of the line, but it wasn't the familiar male voice she was used to, instead it was a girl's voice. One that was definitely unfamiliar.

"Um…who is this?" Hannah asked, feeling the slightest bit flustered. She was _sure_ she'd tapped in the right number.

"Oh I'm Alyssa. Are you looking for Cameron?" The girl, who had introduced herself as Alyssa, asked sounding slightly amused as somebody in the background rambled off, supposedly at her.

"Actually I am." Hannah chirped, feeling relieved she'd gotten the right number.

Alyssa snickered at something, but Hannah was sure it wasn't her because she hadn't really said anything funny. "Cameron it's for you." The girl's voice faded as she supposedly handed the phone off to Cameron.

Hannah tapped her foot on the concrete sidewalk, seemingly impatient because she was getting tired of sitting here. "Hey." Now _there_ was a voice Hannah recognized.

"Hey Cameron! Wow it's been a while since we talked!" The red head exclaimed, switching off onto her other foot considering the right one was going numb.

Cameron chuckled on the other end of the line. "Your right it has been a while since we talked ever since _you_ transferred to Carmel High."

"Cam where are you at right now?"

"Bout to leave the school. Why?"

Hannah sighed and then told him, "Well Mom's late and I need a ride home so I was wondering…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll be there in a few minutes." Hannah grinned despite herself, glad that her old friend could make the time to do her a simple favor such as this.

"Thank Cam. See you in a few." She hit the end call button and then the quiet settled all around her. Most of the others had gone home immediately after glee practice except for Bryce and Emily. Emily had cheerleading practice whilst Bryce had football practice. Her mind wandered to the girl who had answered the phone and she wondered if that had been Cameron's girlfriend. At the very thought Hannah's heart sank. She'd always had a crush on Cameron, but had never quite had the guts to tell him for fear of being rejected. Afraid that he would break her heart. But _no_ Cameron was way too nice for that even if she of told him.

Hannah shook the thoughts from her head as a black Dodge pulled up beside the sidewalk where she was patiently waiting. Hannah's face lit up upon seeing the familiar old truck. Hannah ambled up to the truck and pulled the passenger door open only to see two girls and a boy in the back of the truck, playfully arguing about something. Hannah climbed in, slamming the door behind her and buckling up almost immediately. "Hey Hannah. Long time no see." Cameron said, giving her that adorable smile of his.

"OW!" The boy in the back cried as if in pain.

Hannah saw Cameron cut his eyes back at the trio in the back and Hannah even glanced back to see what was going on. Sitting between the two girls was a brunette boy with pretty blue eyes, rubbing the back of his head as if he'd been hit. The red haired girl was giggling while the other blonde girl was glaring at the boy, cheeks a bright pink. Cameron sighed. "Hannah the girl behind you is Marissa, then there's Damian, and that's Alyssa, the girl you spoke with on the phone."

"We can introduce ourselves you know." Alyssa, definitely the girl she'd spoken with on the phone, piped up, narrowing her hazel eyes at the back of Cameron's head.

Cameron smirked. "You looked busy."

Alyssa stuck her tongue out at Cameron and then turned to smile at Hannah. "Nice to meet you in person Hannah."

Hannah grinned over her shoulder at the girl. "Ditto."

"Hey I say we go to this Breadstix place I've heard so much about." Hannah jumped the slightest bit as Alyssa leaned forward in front of Damian so she could drape her arms over the side of the middle seat of the front. She heard Damian make a sound of protest, but the blonde girl ignored him much to Hannah's own amusement.

Cameron chanced a quick look back in his mirror. "Alyssa buckle up before you get us pulled over!"

Alyssa huffed dramatically and plopped back in her seat. Damian seemed relatively relieved that he didn't have the girl's backside right there in front of his face any longer though. "What's this place your talking about?" the Irish boy asked.

Hannah smiled and explained. "It's a restaurant here in town. Hey that's a good idea Cam. You should drive us to Breadstix!" Hannah shifted in her seat, trying to remember if she'd brought her twenty dollars to school with her today. Last Saturday her neighbor had given her twenty dollars for helping baby-sit her three kids, who were quite the handful if she had anything to say about it. Personally Hannah thought that watching the trio of redhead kids were worth _way_ more than twenty dollars. Unfortunately their mother had been pleased with just giving her twenty dollars for her job well done, saying that only one other girl had managed to get the boys to bed all at the same time.

"I'll help pay!" Alyssa chirped, being quite the enthusiast about going to this place.

"Yeah we can all chip in." Marissa added.

Cameron groaned with the apparent realization that he was being outnumbered. Hannah laughed at her old friend's display of defeat. His other friends had pretty much ganged up on him so he didn't have a choice. "Fine we'll go."

* * *

><p>"What about you Alyssa?" Alyssa started when she heard her name. She glanced up confusedly from her menu and blinked a few times, shooting Hannah a <em>what-did-you-say<em>, kind of look. Alyssa had been contemplating between the chicken salad or just a hamburger, and she was _still _undecided. She didn't know what was good at this place so she was going to go for the latter because how could you go wrong with a burger. "Who's your favorite band?"

"_Oh._" Alyssa set her menu down, leaning forward to rest her elbows upon the table that seated five considering they couldn't all fit in a booth. "Um…" Her voice trailed off. She _liked_ a lot of various bands and singers, her taste leaning towards rock, pop, or alternative. From the conversation they'd been having it seemed that Cameron was a pretty big fan of John Mayer, but after that she'd tuned out. So what was her favorite band? 10 Years, Woe Is Me, We Came As Romans, Black Veil Brides, Snow Patrol, Evanescence, Escape the Fate, Britney Spears (yes an odd addition to the number of rock and metal bands), the All American Rejects, Aerosmith, Lady Gaga, The Band Perry (the _only_ country she would listen to). Endless options and she couldn't quite pick a favorite. "Well if I had to pick a favorite singer it would probably be Kate Voegele…or perhaps James Blunt. They're both great artists, but not as recognized as they _should_ be."

"Kate Voegele…you sang a song of hers for your audition didn't you?" Marissa asked, swirling the ice around in her cup with the clear straw the waitress had stuck in all their glasses.

"Yeah I did. Oh!" Alyssa snapped her fingers to get her friend's attention. "Did you guys ever a pick a song for our assignment?"

Marissa perked up at the mention of their Glee assignment. "Actually yes. I was thinking about singing _Glitter In the Air_. What about you guys?" Marissa inquired as she turned her gray eyes on Damian and Cameron who'd been chatting about something else entirely with Hannah.

"_Please Don't Leave Me_." Cameron answered.

"I was thinking of singing her song _Who Knew._" Damian responded, his Irish accent prominent among the flatter, American tones of the teens.

"You guys are singing _Pink_ for a Glee assignment?" The look on Hannah's face would have been _classic_ if she hadn't of been so genuinely astounded that they were doing something like Pink for a glee assignment.

"Um…yeah." Cameron answered slowly, obviously not sure what to think of his friend's shock.

Hannah huffed. "Jesse's been putting us through these extra strict practices that are driving us all _nuts_. Samuel, our lead singer, is going crazy from all the stress Jesse's putting on him about winning Sectionals, then Regionals, and most importantly _Nationals_." The lack of emotion Hannah put into her voice was odd, almost as if she resented their coach for stressing them so much. Alyssa could find that understandable though. How could one get better when they were worrying about screwing up all the time?

The other four blinked and then exchanged quick looks. Alyssa was sure they were all thinking the same thing. _Why was their coach already worrying about _Nationals? Nationals weren't until late second semester so surely he'd have enough time to train Vocal Adrenaline. When Alyssa's mother had checked into Carmel High (the school she was originally going to attend), she'd told her that Jesse St. James, the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, had been a former student and member of the Glee club. After a brief tour of the school and actually meeting Jesse completely on accident, well he really hadn't seemed that bad. Then again looks weren't everything.

"Wow." Was the only thing Alyssa could really think of to say. "So…do you guys have any idea what song I could sing for the assignment?" She asked, tapping her fingers on the table repeatedly.

"You could sing _Raise Your Glass_." Hannah proposed.

"What song is that?" They all stared at Damian as opposed to anything else. Damian's blue eyes widened, afraid he'd said something wrong.

"Are you _serious_?" Cameron gaped at his friend. "You haven't heard it on the radio? They play it all the time."

Hannah held up a finger. "Here…" Hannah cleared her throat whilst holding up a finger. Alyssa wondered what she was doing and was about to ask until Hannah opened her mouth to belt out the opening lyrics of the song they'd just been talking about.

**[Hannah]**

_Right, right, turn of the lights_

_We're gonna lose our minds tonight_

_What's the deal, yo?_

_I love when it's all too much_

_5 am turn the radio up_

_Where's the rock and roll?_

The others caught on quickly and Alyssa began with the next verse, very familiar with the song as she'd loved the song, but hadn't actually thought of singing it for their assignment.

**[Alyssa]**

_Party crasher_

_Penny snatcher_

_Call me up if you want gangsta_

_Don't be fancy_

_Just get dancey_

_Why so serious?_

Marissa, Cameron, and even Damian laughed and began to join in on the singing. Alyssa noticed the looks people were giving them, some of interest, curiosity, agitation, and awe at the group of kids singing.

**[Together]**

_So raise your glass if you are wrong_

_In all the right ways _

_All my underdogs_

_And nitty gritty dirty little freaks_

_Won't you come and come on and raise your glass_

_Just come on and come on and raise your glass_

It was now Marissa's turn to take up the next verse of the song and she was doing her best to dance whilst sitting in her seat, not the least bit self conscious of the audience they had. Although none of them really took notice to the stares they were getting.

[**Marissa]**

_Slam slam, oh hot damn_

_What part of party don't you understand_

_Wish you'd just freak out freak out already_

_Can't stop, coming in hot_

_I should be locked up right on the spot_

_It's so on right now so freakin' on right now_

**[Cameron]**

_Party crasher_

_Penny snatcher_

_Call me up if you want gangsta_

_Don't be fancy_

_Just get dancey_

**[Together]**

_Why so serious?_

**[Damian]**

_So raise your glass if you are wrong_

_In all the right ways_

_All my underdogs_

Damian had just been starting the next verse, actually getting into the song like the rest of them were, when their waitress sauntered up with a clearly agitating look plastered on her face. "'Scuse me but if you kids keep up the racket then I'm going to have to ask you to leave." She said, popping a bright pink bubble of gum right there in front of them.

Alyssa, Hannah, and Marissa all clapped their hands over their mouths to stifle the giggles. They didn't want to actually get the woman mad. Alyssa had no doubt in her mind that said waitress wouldn't hesitate to throw them out of the restaurant. That _had_ been fun though. She honestly couldn't wait until they all got to sing their songs in the next few days. Heck she was even ecstatic about Sectionals which were at least a month or so away.

After ordering their food they returned to chattering away endlessly, something Alyssa found she enjoyed. Just chatting with her newly made friends. She gazed around the table at the two red head, the lanky boy with the glasses, and the Irish boy whose accent she adored. Well she likes just about any accent. Australian, British, French.

Alyssa's gaze turned curious. Damian was staring intently at Marissa as she spoke animatedly about the upcoming class elections. She was talking about how she wanted to run for president and how they were going to vote for her, being good friends and such. He'd look away every few words, but his eyes kept finding their way back to Marissa's face which Alyssa found quite curious.

Tapping her finger against her chin she pondered one thing. _Did Damian like Marissa?_

_A/N~_

_So…hhmm lets see…let's start with…Oh! I know. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the lovely review. *gives readers cookies*. Um…I wanted to introduce Hannah's character in this chapter. Gah and I've decided on a love…shape…thing…let's just go with it's going to be REALLY complicated. But I like complicated…I might be able to work with complicated. What do you guys think about the idea of a love…shape? (-_- I don't know what else to call it.)_

_I love P!nk's song Raise Your Glass and wanted the group to sing it while at Breadstix. And Alyssa was originally going to attend Carmel High instead of McKinley, but I thought she'd fit in better at McKinley. As for the bands she listens to…well I'm not sure if you know who a few of them are…and if you like metal/hard rock you should def. look a few of them up. They're great. _

_Anyhoo I'm going with __**xxBlaineXKurtxx's **__idea of Marissa singing 'Glitter In the Air'. I really liked the idea…thanks by the way. Also I would have updated sooner, but I haven't had internet for the past few days. _

_I also haven't been able to watch the last two episodes of the Glee Project which makes me very mad. We apparently don't have Oxygen anymore, but my cousin has been filling me in on the episodes. _

_And FINALLY (yes I'll stop my rambling after this) if there's any other pairings, drama, rivalries, ANYTHING you'd like to see, then leave it in a review and it will DEFINITLY be put into consideration. _

_~Iggy'sGirl15_


	6. A Little Rivalry

**Chapter 6**

Lindsay had taken Rachel's 'challenge' into deep contemplation since the other day. The older girl hadn't actually spoken it aloud, _but_ it was there. Lindsay was going to give it her all, do _everything_ in her power to outshine Rachel Berry. Her competitiveness was already getting the better of her, but she pushed it aside. Maybe Rachel was right, maybe they _were_ a lot alike. But if Jesse was right, and Lindsay was almost positive he was, then she _could_ outperform Rachel and perhaps even take the lead spot. (Although that would take a lot more planning _and_ practice.)

It was like Lindsay's mother always told her. She could do _anything_ she wanted as long as she set her mind to it and worked hard towards her set goal. That she believed. It would explain the countless times Jesse had complimented her on being one of the best, almost as good as him, and why he'd given her the role of lead female. Lindsay had spent countless hours working with, not only her Broadway loving mother, but the former coach of Vocal Adrenaline. Shelby Corcoran.

So Lindsay had no doubt in her mind that she would _rock_ her performance this afternoon. After a quick consultation with McKynleigh, a friend of hers from Carmel, she'd decided to sing Pink's song _So What_.

Now if this afternoon would _get_ here.

The bell rang, signaling the end of fourth period. Students scrambled to get out of the history room, in a rush to get fifth period over with so they could get to lunch already. Having lunch at 12:45 didn't necessarily appeal to most of the students who considered it a late time to have lunch. Lindsay slung her bag over her shoulders and ambled her own way out of Civics and to her Art class. She wasn't positive as why she'd joined Art in the first place. She was a pretty decent artist, plus it had seemed like it would be fun.

The dark haired girl stopped by her locker first. Lindsay wanted to dispose of her bothersome books before she headed off to her fifth period class. Lindsay slid her textbooks neatly into it's place before gently closing her locker door shut. Turning around, her blue eyes scanned the halls for the certain brunette boy she often saw on her way to art.

To Lindsay's utmost dismay, she didn't spot him among the throng of students milling throughout the hall, rushing not to be late for their class. So instead of hovering in the halls near her locker she walked at a hurried pace toward the art room. It turned out that Lindsay made it to class just in time because as soon as she set foot in the class the bell rang. Lindsay scurried to her seat, setting her bags down to listen to her art teacher explain their newest project they'd have a week to finish. Lindsay made a mental note to add this to her list of 'things to do' when she got home.

Mrs. Sass was wanting them to design their own city. It could be drawn, painted, basically any way you wanted to put it together as long as it expressed your artistic abilities. Lindsay could see her city now. A theater, billboards with _her_ face on it. She smiled as she withdrew her sketchpad so she could finish up yesterday's work like the rest of the class seemed to be doing. Mrs. Sass had finished with telling them they'd start tomorrow so they could have today to finish up their previous work.

Lindsay stared at her half-way finished summer paradise scene, wondering what else she could add besides palm-trees and waves. "That's good." Lindsay jumped when a girl's voice jolted her from her thoughts. The girl laughed at her jitteriness and Lindsay glanced over her shoulder to see Alyssa standing there.

"Oh thanks, but I'm kinda stuck. I'm not sure what else to add." Lindsay turned a blue-eyed gaze back to her sketch, tapping her charcoal pencil against the paper. Alyssa sat down in the seat next to her with her own sketchpad sitting in front of her.

"Have you thought about adding…dolphins jumping out of the water maybe?"

Lindsay scanned the page, contemplating where she could draw the dolphins. She traced a spot over the waves, trying to visualize the scene. The gently rolling waves, the soft ocean breeze, the whistling and clicking sounds of the dolphins, it was all coming together in her mind. "That's a good idea…thanks."

The blonde girl shot Lindsay a genuine smile. "No problem." She commented before moving to open her own sketchbook to her…well Lindsay wasn't quite sure what to call it. Alyssa glanced up only to catch Lindsay staring unabashedly at the crude drawing on the paper. It looked like it was _supposed _to be the Eiffel Tower, but that wasn't exactly what it _looked_ like. Pink dusted over the other girl's lightly freckled cheeks. "I prefer computer to paper and a camera to paint and pencils. Which is why I'm looking forward to our _other_ project." Alyssa admitted, giving her sketch an embarrassed sort of look.

After the brief conversation the two girls relapsed into a silence that neither bothered to break. Instead they went on sketching and shading.

* * *

><p>"UGH!" With a cry of frustration Samuel flung several sheets of music across the stage of the auditorium, glad he was the only one in here so nobody else could see the rage he was clearly displaying. His voice was starting to get hoarse and he'd only been practicing for <em>barely<em> a week. Jesse's really strict practices had been killing not only Samuel, but most importantly his _voice_. After a request that he stay thirty extra minutes to practice he'd come _this_ close to telling Jesse to go screw himself and _then_ officially quit Vocal Adrenaline.

Samuel's stress had something to do with the only few reasons he could think of. It was Jesse's practices, the fact that Samuel's band had just broken up, or perhaps even the fact that the _original_ lead had hi-tailed it out of Carmel High and over to McKinley. Much less the fact that Samuel had always harbored a slight crush over Lindsay, who was a year younger than him, but much more talented that he would ever be, at least that was how he saw it. _Breathe Samuel. Don't let this get to you. _Samuel repeated said mantra in his head repeatedly until he finally relaxed in just the slightest.

Samuel dropped down onto the stage, his long legs dangling over the edge. A few strands of his dreadlocked hair fell into his face. Samuel took the time to push them back with a tanned hand. Wasn't singing supposed to be _fun_? Not…_stressful?_ At least that was how he saw it. Perhaps it was all about the competition to Jesse. Truthfully Samuel didn't care. He was tired of all the pressure being put on him. He was ready to tell Jesse he at least needed to add a female lead so it wouldn't all be on _his_ shoulders. But _no_. He already knew Jesse wouldn't have that. Not until he had Lindsay back.

A sigh passed the boy's lips. Why did Lindsay have to _leave_? Did she have any idea what sort of torture Jesse was putting them through? Drilling them until they got _every_ single note right? Until they were perfectly on pitch or close to it? It was madness.

"Samuel are you okay?" Fellow Vocal Adrenaline, McKynleigh, dropped down next to Samuel on the stage, cocoa brown eyes filled to the brim with concern.

Samuel offered said girl a small smile. "Yeah I'm fine. I just…have a lot on my mind." He answered, eyes wandering back out to the empty auditorium, glad his last class was a free period. Samuel wondered how McKynleigh did it. She was the freshman class president, in the Spanish Club, the S.O.D.A Club, all advanced classes, and most importantly Vocal Adrenaline. How could she do _all of that_ and come off as completely at ease with the fact that she was constantly busy with all of the extra-curricular activities she had going on.

"You sure? You sound a little hoarse…and you sounded pretty mad earlier." McKynleigh was obviously hinting that she'd seen his little…outburst earlier. Apparently Samuel hadn't been as alone as he'd originally thought.

"Oh…" Samuel fumbled for an explanation, an excuse, _anything_ really, but he got nothing.

McKynleigh, however, caught on because the answer was obvious. Samuel _knew_ that his fellow Vocal Adrenaline members saw how Jesse drilled him more than any. "Look Samuel, I know Jesse's been putting us through…rigorous practices, but don't let him get to you. I can help you practice if you'd like?"

Samuel shook his head and then forced himself to stand. "Thanks, but that's okay." With a sigh he continued on. "Besides I need to rest my voice." He admitted, suddenly glad Jesse had canceled practice for this afternoon. He knew that without a doubt when his mom heard his hoarse voice she'd throw a fit, insisting he try some of her 'home remedies'.

Shuddering at the thought, Samuel bid McKinley a goodbye and quickly left the auditorium, not even bothering to pick up the various sheets of music spread across the floor.

* * *

><p>Most of the New Direction members had already gathered in the choir room, some ready to perform their songs, and others content just to listen for today. Damian was among those who would be listening, thankfully. He wasn't sure if he was quite ready to sing his song. Damian had seated himself in a chair behind Cameron and Marissa who were both laughing at something they were talking about. Normally Damian would have joined in on the conversation, but today he just felt like listening. He wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was the obvious signs of flirtation between his lanky friend and his other red haired friend. It brought back memories. Memories of his home in Ireland and a scene that felt fairly familiar to this one.<p>

Damian dropped his head into his hands, elbows digging into his legs as he raked a hand through his hair. A sigh passed from in-between his lips. "Hey guys." Damian lifted his head in just the slightest to see Alyssa sauntering into the room to plop down in the seat beside him. Both Cameron and Marissa greeted her, but then turned back to their conversation about some talent show they both watched.

A few more seconds ticked by, the only noise Damian registered was the chatter from the other teens and from the two seated in front of them. The face of a green eyed, red haired girl entered his mind as he sat there, listening to the trivial babble. She was taller Alyssa but shorter than Marissa. "Damian…are you alright?" A concerned voice interrupted his reverie and he turned his blue eyes to Alyssa who was staring at him, hazel eyes curious.

Damian had only known Alyssa for about a week and a few days, yet he'd become accustomed to her curiosity. Out of their quartet Alyssa asked the most questions about his former home. She was interested in his homeland, Ireland, saying she'd always wanted to visit other countries. "Um…yeah I'm fine." Damian forced a smile despite his lousy mood.

"Okay guys, who's up first?" Mr. Schuester walked into the room and looked at them expectantly. Damian cast his eyes around the room only to see Lindsay holding her hand up with an enthusiastic smile plastered on her face.

"I'll go Mr. Schue." Lindsay walked to stand in front of the glee members, that movie-star smile still stuck to her face.

_Na-na-na-na, na-na, na_  
><em>Na-na-na-na na-na<em>  
><em>Na-na-na-na, na-na, na<em>  
><em>Na-na-na-na na-na<em>

_I guess I just lost my husband_  
><em>I don't know where he went<em>  
><em>So I'm gonna drink my money<em>

__I'm not gonna pay his rent  
>(Nope!)<em>_

__I got a brand new attitude  
>And I'm gonna wear it tonight<br>I'm gonna get in trouble  
>I wanna start a fight<em>_

__Na-na-na-na, na-na, na  
>I wanna start a fight<br>Na-na-na-na, na-na, na  
>I wanna start a fight!<em>_

__So, so what?  
>I'm still a rock star<br>I got my rock moves  
>And I don't need you<em>_

_And guess what_  
><em>I'm having more fun<em>  
><em>And now that we're done<em>  
><em>I'm gonna show you tonight<em>

_I'm alright_  
><em>I'm just fine<em>  
><em>And you're a tool<em>

Lindsay, so far, was doing a superb job and apparently Damian wasn't the only one taking notice because out of the corner of his eyes he caught Racehl watching. Her eyes were wide, lips parted just the slightest in something along the lines of disbelief that Lindsay was doing as good as she was.

_So, so what?_  
><em>I am a rock star<em>  
><em>I got my rock moves<em>  
><em>And I don't want you tonight<em>

_No no, no no_  
><em>I don't want you tonight<em>  
><em>You weren't there<em>  
><em>I'm gonna show you tonight<em>

_I'm alright_

_I'm just fine  
>And you're a tool<em>

_So, so what?  
>I am a rock star<br>I got my rock moves  
>And I don't want you tonight<em>

_Ba-da-da-da, da-da_

When Lindsay finished a round of applause brought forth a 100 watt smile. A lot of the older members looked surprisingly impressed at the girl's talent, and Damian would see why. Especially considering the death glares Rachel was shooting her way.

"That was…amazing Lindsay. You did a wonderful job." Mr. Schuester praised, clapping along with the others. "Now anybody else?"

Damian glanced down to see Marissa fidgeting nervously in her seat. She looked undecided about what to do. There was a sigh from Alyssa. "Marissa wants to go Mr. Schue." Marissa jumped in surprise, shooting Alyssa a mock glare.

"Well come on Marissa."

Marissa muttered something under her breath, something that was probably directed at Alyssa who was sitting in her seat, a smug smile playing on her lips.

The music started to play, leaving Marissa hesitating at first. Right on cue though she opened her mouth and began to croon the lyrics of the song Glitter In the Air.

_Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?_  
><em>Closed your eyes and trusted, just trusted?<em>  
><em>Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?<em>  
><em>Have you ever looked fear in the face and said, "I just don't care"?<em>

_It's only half past the point of no return  
>The tip of the iceberg<br>The sun before the burn  
>The thunder before the lightning<br>The breath before the phrase  
>Have you ever felt this way?<em>

_Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?  
>You're whole life waiting on the ring to prove you're not alone<br>Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?  
>Have you ever invited a stranger to come inside?<em>

_It's only half past the point of oblivion  
>The hourglass on the table<em>  
><em>The walk before the run<br>The breath before the kiss  
>And the fear before the flames<br>Have you ever felt this way?_

_La La La La La La La La_

_There you are, sitting in the garden  
>Clutching my coffee,<br>Calling me sugar  
>You called me sugar<em>

_Have you ever wished for an endless night?  
>Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight?<br>Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself will it ever get better than tonight?  
>Tonight <em>

Another round of applause this time and Damian was left speechless at her beautiful voice which suited her perfectly. Marissa cheeks flushed pink and she went to take her former seat next to Cameron. "See you did great." Alyssa commented, nudging the back of Marissa's chair with her foot.

Marissa turned in her seat to cast her gray eyes upwards at the other girl. "Yeah well your going tomorrow. Whether you like it or not." Alyssa stuck her tongue out, but said nothing more as Mr. Schuester began to speak again after nobody else volunteered to sing their song.

"Okay guys it's Tuesday so we need to start practicing the song we're singing at the assembly." Mr. Schuester sat down on the barstool and clasped his hands together as he looked at all of them. "Yes Lindsay?" Mr. Schue nodded to the brunette girl whose hand had shot up as soon as he mentioned the performance.

"Mr. Schue I was wondering if I could have a solo part in the song?"

Damian watched as Rachel's jaw dropped just a little bit at the girl's brashness. He quirked an eyebrow at the scene, wondering what was going on between the two girls. Rachel cleared her throat, rearranging her face quickly so she no longer looked as shocked. "Mr. Schuester I think we all know that I should take the solo in the song this Thursday. I am much more experienced with performing."

"But Mr. Schuester wouldn't it be better to showcase some of the newer member's talent? Wouldn't it better appeal to students that their classmates weren't afraid to join so they shouldn't be either? That way, perhaps we could get other's to join." The comment from Lindsay was spoken with ease, almost like she'd prepared for Rachel to put up a fight for the solo.

Mr. Schuester looked between the two girls. Rachel was shooting Lindsay death glares while Lindsay just flat out ignored her. Mr. Schue was clearly torn as both girl's had good points. "Mr. Schue I say we put this to a vote." Kurt seemed to be the only one who was willing to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the choir room.

Mr. Schuester seemed relieved and then nodded in agreement. "That's a great idea Kurt. Nominate who you think should get the solo for the song down on a piece of paper. Whoever has the most votes get's the part." At that the members began to pull out slips of paper so they could scribble the name of who they thought deserved the part down on paper.

Damian pulled out a slip of paper and scribbled a name down, the name of who he thought deserved the part. He hadn't heard Rachel sing yet, but he'd heard she was pretty good. Lindsay, however, was good too. She'd hit every note and seemed to be in pitch so why not give her a chance at getting the part?

Soon everybody's votes were placed in a hat which Mr. Schuester shook around. They all watched in anticipation as he unfolded the slips, commenting on when somebody voted for themselves. That happened to be Rachel and Lindsay. "Okay guys…it looks like most of you voted for the same person." Mr. Schue stated with a gesture towards the small pile of slips of paper. "Lindsay you got the part."

Rachel's mouth fell open again while Lindsay beamed happily. Rachel stood up, huffed, and then strutted out of the room, seemingly furious with everybody's choice. A few moments of silence passed by before Artie said, "I wonder if she realizes her dramatic exits aren't so dramatic anymore."

**Songs:**

**So What~ P!nk**

**Glitter In the Air~ P!nk**

_A/N~_

_First off I want to thank all of you for reviewing. I really do appreciate it. Okay so Samuel's introduced in this chapter. As you can tell he's obviously stressed no thanks to Jesse. Samuel having a slight crush on Lindsay fit's into my love shape and it's only going to get even more complicated. And Rachel and Lindsay clash here. Remember the comment Artie makes in the first season about how Rachel's dramatic exits get less dramatic every time? Well I figured that by now they wouldn't be dramatic at all soo…._

_Um…next chapter there'll probably be a little Damian/Marissa, nothing serious though. And for once this is all I have to say. Well maybe I have one more thing to add. Was anybody else upset that Marissa was sent home? I thought that she would have ended up being one of the top three. Personally (maybe this is just me) but I was hoping Alex would have been sent home. I support Cameron and I didn't see his performance of Love Can Wait (I think that's the one he sang) but I downloaded the song on iTunes a few weeks back so I can imagine. _

_Now! I'm done._


	7. Movie Night

**Chapter 7**

Jesse seated himself at the very back of the auditorium, that way nobody would pay much attention to him. When he'd gotten word that New Directions were performing for their school he'd rushed to the school. To tell you the truth he wasn't sure why he'd come, perhaps to see if they'd gotten any better, or to see if his star would be performing. Plus spying on New Directions would give him an idea of how exactly he would go about his plan.

Jesse was relieved when Mr. Figgins began to speak into the microphone, explaining that the glee club would be performing before their guest speaker made his appearance. The lights dimmed and the curtain swept back to reveal New Directions. Jesse watched with interest as a familiar face walked up to the mike as the music started. No, it wasn't Rachel Berry. Instead it was a familiar Santana.

Santana cleared her throat, not seeming the least bit nervous at the unenthusiastic crowd. It seemed as if their glee club had been added to which didn't bother him in the slightest.

_Made a wrong turn, once or twice_

_Dug my way out, blood and fire_

_Bad decisions, that's alright_

_Welcome to my silly life_

Now it was Quinn Fabray's turn to belt the lyrics, her soprano voice varying from Santana's lower one.

_Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood _

_Miss 'No way, it's all good', it didn't slow me down_

_Mistaken, always second guessing, underestimated_

_Look I'm still around_

To Jesse's surprise it wasn't Rachel that stepped up to take over for Quinn, instead it was a very familiar face, one he wanted for Vocal Adrenaline. Lindsay Pearce was definitely a sight to see and her voice resonated throughout the auditorium.

_Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel_

_Like you're less than, less than perfect_

_Pretty, pretty please, if you ever feel like you're nothing_

_You're perfect to me_

They all began to harmonize with each other as they broke on into the next verse. It was actually a surprise to him that Rachel was no where in sight.

_You're so mean, when you talk about yourself, you were wrong_

_Change the voices in your head, make them like you instead_

_So complicated, look happy, you'll make it!_

_Filled with so much hatred…such a tired game_

_It's enough!_

_I've done all I can think of_

_Chased down all my demons_

_I've seen you do the same_

_Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel_

_Like you're less than, less than perfect_

_Pretty, pretty please, if you ever feel like you're nothing_

_You are perfect to me_

_The whole world's scared so I swallow the fear_

_The only thing I should be drinking is an ice cold beer_

_So cold and line and we try, try, try_

_But we try too hard and it's a waste of my time_

_Done lookin' for the critiques 'cause they're everywhere_

_They don't like my jeans_

_They don't get my hair_

_Estrange ourselves and we do it all the time_

_Why do we do that?_

_Why do I do that?_

_Why do I do that?_

_Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel_

_Like you're less than, less than perfect_

_Pretty, pretty please, if you ever feel like you're nothing_

_You are perfect to me_

_You're perfect, you're perfect to me_

_Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel_

_Like you're less than, less than perfect_

_Pretty, pretty please, if you ever feel like you're nothing_

_You are perfect to me_

When they finished the auditorium filled with applause and Mr. Figgins walked onto the stage to announce their guest speaker while New Directions walked of stage to take a seat among the crowd of teenagers. Jesse stood, pleased with what he'd seen. He strode out of the auditorium, a new plan already forming in his devious mind.

Rachel Berry had been there for their performance. Apparently she'd been a lot angrier with her fellow glee clubbers than any of them had realized. But Lindsay honestly didn't mind because she'd gotten her solo and proved to Rachel that she wasn't afraid of her.

Lindsay's blue eyes scanned the parking lot for a single brunette boy that she was _sure_ had been avoiding her all week. She spotted him almost instantly. Damian was with Cameron, of course, and they were both leaning back against the truck talking about whatever guys talked about when they were alone with each other.

Lindsay began to walk over to them, head held high as she did. She was going to ask him to go to the movies tonight. "Lindsay." _That voice._ She thought as she stopped dead in her tracks.

Lindsay slowly turned around, eyes wary as she took in the curly haired man standing just a few mere feet away from her. "Jesse."

Jesse's eyes searched her face looking for who knows what. "I saw your performance yesterday." He explained in five simple words.

Lindsay quirked an eyebrow. "Oh really? Spying on New Directions Jesse?"

Instead of responding like she'd expected him to, he settled on staring at her for a few more seconds. Who knew what was going on in that head of his. For once Lindsay didn't know. Jesse's eyes lit up like he'd just gotten an idea and he smirked. "Why would I stoop to that level?" He smiled then, but it definitely wasn't a smile you could call nice. It was the kind of smile that would more than likely frighten little children. "You did a good job. Keep up the good work." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Jesse spun on his heels and began walking to his car which wasn't parked too far away from where Lindsay was standing.

_What is _that_ supposed to mean?_ Lindsay asked herself as she watched him walk away. _And what is he up to now?_ Shaking her head she turned back around, eyes searching for their previous target only to see the four teens climbing into the truck. Her eyes stayed glued to the truck as it pulled out of the parking lot and kept on going.

Lindsay hung her head in disappointment and then walked off, knowing that she always had tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Marissa, Cameron, Damian, and Alyssa were all walking down the hall, chatting harmlessly as they made their way out of the school. Marissa was positive none of them had noticed the four jocks walking towards them or else they would have done their best to avoid the freezing, syrupy liquid that instantly made contact with their skin. Both her and Alyssa yelped, half at the shock of the cold slushy and half in surprise. The boys both gaped as the purple and green liquid dripped all about their face, making both of them look almost ridiculous.<p>

The four exchanged looks and then _laughed_ about it because after their performance they'd all been in pretty good moods. Marissa shook the slushy out of her long red hair and gestured towards the girl's bathroom which they'd been walking by.

"Ya know this is my second time being slushied since school started." Alyssa commented casually as she grabbed a few paper towels and began dabbing at the blue slushy that would more than likely stain her shirt.

Once Marissa had herself cleaned up she turned to Cameron and Damian who were both still trying to get the slushy out of their hair. Marissa giggled and grabbed Cameron's arm to drag him over to the sink. "Here let me help."

"Thanks." Cameron commented, allowing her to take over cleaning.

"Green's your color." Alyssa said as she eyed Damian with an amused look in her eyes. He rolled his blue eyes as he managed to get the last bit of slushy out of his hair. "So how do you guys feel about a movie night?"

"Sounds good to me." Damian replied.

Marissa bit her bottom lips, going over some of things she needed to get finished. Like Geometry homework. "Can we work on homework first and _then_ watch a movie?" When Alyssa nodded Marissa said, "Okay sounds fun."

"I've gotta run an errand for my parents, but I'll come over as soon as I'm finished." Marissa silently wondered what sort of errand it was Cameron had to run and almost thought about asking if she could help. But she really did have Geometry homework to finish and it wouldn't surprise her if Alyssa had homework she'd need help with because she wasn't all that great with math. Especially considering she was okay with getting a D as long as she passed.

"Sounds like a plan then."

* * *

><p>After finishing their homework they'd picked out a movie to watch. At least Damian and Alyssa had.<p>

Marissa checked herself in mirror that hung over the sink in the bathroom of Alyssa's house. Damian and Alyssa were waiting for her in the living rooms so they could start the movie. Apparently Cameron had to go do something for his parents after school so he'd be over later. But for now it was just the three of them. Yes, she had been disappointed at first, but then realized that it wouldn't hurt her to wait a while longer as long as he'd be here.

Marissa left the bathroom then, flicking the lights out as she went. All the lights in the house were off. The only actual light that anything was giving off happened to be the TV. When she ambled on into the living room she found Alyssa on the couch, feet propped up on a pile of throw pillows considering her legs weren't long enough to reach the other end. So that left Marissa with two choices. Either sit on the floor or the loveseat with Damian.

So she sat down on the loveseat with Damian, curling her legs under herself. "So what are we watching?"

A sigh came from Alyssa's direction. "Well Damian decided he wanted to have a scary movie marathon or something like that. _So _we're going to watch _Paranormal Activity_,_ Paranormal Activity 2, __A Nightmare On Elm Street, the Exorcist, _and I was thinking that we could end off the night watching some sappy romance movie just to get the scary images out of our minds."

Out of the corner of her eyes she caught Damian rolling his eyes. "Just start the movie."

"Fine." Alyssa huffed, pressing the play button on the DVD remote to start _Paranormal Activity_.

In the middle of _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ Alyssa realized that both Damian and Marissa were asleep. She wasn't sure when exactly they'd actually fallen asleep or how exactly Damian's arm had found it's away around Marissa's shoulders or when Marissa had cuddled up next to said boy. _But_ Alyssa did know she was thirsty. So she quietly forced herself from the couch and then trudged towards the kitchen, happy to leave the gory sounds of the movie behind.

She was really just wishing she'd at least left the kitchen light on because it was dark, the only light being the glow of the stainless steel appliances in the room. Be it the horror movies or her paranoia she couldn't ignore the fact that she could have _sworn_ she'd seen a movement in the far side of the kitchen. Alyssa swallowed as she placed her hand on the counter, seeking something she could use as a weapon in case some psycho had snuck their way into the kitchen of her home. Her hand tightened around something that she picked it up carefully, allowing her free hand to search for the light switch.

Heart racing, her fingers found the light switch, suddenly unsure whether she should turn it on or now. "Alyssa!" A voice from across the kitchen whispered, echoing loudly throughout the disturbingly quiet kitchen.

Alyssa reacted like any teenage girl would. She screamed bloody murder, hurled the object in her right hand in the general direction of the voice, and fumbled to get the light on. "Ow!" The light flicked on, bathing the kitchen in warm light and she spun around, back pressed against the wall only to find-

Alyssa gawked. Turned out it _wasn't_ some psycho serial killer unless her friend had suddenly taken up a new hobby. "Cameron what on_ earth_ are you doing in my _kitchen_?" Her voice ended up a lot louder than she'd meant for it to, but she couldn't help it. Cameron had practically given her a heart attack.

"What are _you_ hurling salt shakers at me for?" Cameron countered as he rubbed the top of his head, eying her warily.

"You scared the crap out of me! That's why!" Alyssa exclaimed. "But that doesn't explain why your in my _kitchen_."

Cameron gave her a half-amused look despite the fact he was still rubbing his head in pain. "You told me to come in through the back door when I came over because you were locking the front door."

"Oh." Was all she had to say because she _did_ remember telling him to come in through the back earlier today. Of course she hadn't thought of that when she figured it was some creeper trying to kill her. "Um…sorry?" She tried for a smile, but her heart was still beating like crazy from adrenaline.

"It's okay I guess. Where are Marissa and Damian at?" Alyssa unglued herself from the wall and walked towards the refrigerator, confident that Cameron wasn't actually some crazy in disguise.

"They're in the living room. They fell asleep in the middle of _A Nightmare on Elm Street_." Alyssa explained as she snatched a bottle of water from the top shelf.

"And _that _would explain why you chucked a salt shaker at me." Cameron mused.

Alyssa shrugged. "Come on. I'm sure my screaming woke them up." She muttered as she began to trudge on back into the living room, ultimately deciding to just leave the kitchen light on this time and flick the living room light on as she walked in.

"Looks like their heavy sleepers." Cameron commented as soon as they caught sight of the loveseat.

Alyssa paid him no attention as she set her bottled water down and grabbed two throw pillows in its place. She tossed the pillows at the couple on the couch and watched in amusement as they both jerked away, Marissa blushing like crazy once she realized she'd been curled up against Damian. "I can't believe Alyssa's screaming didn't wake you two up." Cameron laughed as he plopped down onto the couch, clearly amused by the looks of confusion he was receiving from both Damian and Marissa.

"What are you talking about?" Marissa asked, her gray eyes flitting between Alyssa and Cameron.

"I thought Cameron was a serial killer so I hurled a salt shaker at him. Which is why we're going to watch a non-scary movie. So what do you guys think about a _Star Wars_ marathon instead. Way less scary." Alyssa commented as she moved to switch movies regardless of what they said. The horror movies would leave her sleeping with a baseball bat tucked safely in bed with her for nights to come.

**Mentioned Songs:**

**Perfect by P!nk**

_A/N~_

_Hello again everybody. So I've decided that I'm going to start replying to your reviews because I really do appreciate them. You just have no idea! :D _

_Ok so um….let's see I've never actually watched any of the movies mentioned in this chapter except for Paranormal Activity. I'm a big chicken like that and I'm extremely paranoid. Jesse is being devious again. I still don't like him._

_Anyway I'm going to have a short rant about last night's episode of the Glee Project so if you haven't seen it skip the next paragraph._

_I cried. I'll admit it. Cameron was my favorite besides Damian and Samuel, but in all truth I respect him, his decision, and his conviction (that's the right word I think) to his beliefs. When I found out he saved Damian I freaked. I was sure it was going to be Alex._

_Anyhoo like I said, short rant. By the way I have a poll on my profile and I need _you_ to go and vote for you fave pairings. They're just going to give me an idea of who you guys like, not decisions….soooo…._

_3 IggysGirl15_


	8. Duets I

**Chapter 8**

_Mondays. _Marissa thought with a distinct hint of disgust. She always dreaded Mondays, but who didn't? Starting a new week of school, having to listen to teachers drone on and lecture them about something early in the morning. It was never fun. She slammed her locker door shut, glad to be rid of her thick history book that she'd been lugging around since first period. It had been a good three weeks since their performance at the assembly and nothing had really happened. Of course that was if you excluded the fact that Lindsay and Rachel were constantly fighting over solos. Just about everybody in the glee club had learned to ignore them when they started listing off the reasons either of them deserved the solos.

Not only that, but nothing had happened between Cameron and her either.

Marissa wasn't sure what was going on there. Before the movie night, which had become routine, they'd been getting along fine, exchanging flirtations, but since that night they hadn't interacted as much as they had before. So _what_ was going on?

"Hey Marissa!" Marissa's head turned once she heard her name called. Her gray eyes searched the halls, watchful of jocks carrying slushies as she looked. Thankfully it was only her friend Alyssa weaving through the crowded hall, disappearing at times behind the teens who towered over her. Alyssa finally appeared from behind a taller guy, a half agitated look passing over her face.

"Hey." Marissa and Alyssa took off down the hall together this time, both girls heading to lunch. "Do good on your Geometry test?"

Alyssa wrinkled her freckled nose and Marissa almost laughed at the sight. She knew Alyssa struggled in math…actually she was horrible with math so Marissa offered to tutor her friend. In truth Marissa wasn't sure if she'd even been any help to Alyssa who was barely passing with a sixty four in Geometry. However, according to Alyssa, she was doing a lot better than she'd done in Algebra I back in Arkansas. "It was an epic fail. Literally. I made a forty five on it. But Mr. Stevens said he'd give everybody a do-over. That means I have to _study_ tonight."

"Believe it or not studying actually _helps_ you pass." Marissa raised a slender eyebrow in amusement.

"Studying doesn't solve my disability to comprehend Geometry. It's just…_complicated_."

Marissa cracked a smile. "Geometry isn't _that_ complicated." She said as they took their place in the short cafeteria line. Marissa was suddenly glad they'd gotten here early or else they would have had to wait in a long line just to eat lunch.

"Says the girl who makes straight A's." Alyssa retorted.

"_Which_ leads us back to _studying_." Alyssa rolled her eyes at Marissa, yet she cracked a smile in the process. "Okay did you at least finish that English essay?" Marissa asked as Alyssa moved forward in the lunch line, grabbing her tray from the cafeteria lady. Marissa commented the former girl's motions and they began to walk out to the outside area to their usual table.

"Um…the one I was supposed to write on….Selene? The moon goddess?"

"What do you mean by _supposed _to write?" Marissa cocked an eyebrow at her again, taking notice of Alyssa's guilty look which she was trying to hide by quickly sitting down at the picnic table, taking the seat across from Marissa.

"Well…you see that's a funny story…"

Marissa snorted as she dropped her bag down beside her feet. "Yeah I bet it is. You _forgot _didn't you?"

Alyssa let out a heavy breath, one that indicated she'd been caught. Alyssa nodded as the popped the tab on the Pepsi Max she'd brought with her. "Something like that." She muttered under her breath as she then began to push her food around on her plate. "Now to change subjects…I have a question for _you_. A question that I've been meaning to ask."

Before Marissa knew what was happening she had a plastic fork being pointed at her and a semi-serious look directed straight at her.

"Okaayyy…." Marissa drawled whilst giving the other girl a suspicious look despite the fact she had no idea what it was she wanted to ask.

"Well," Alyssa started to say, lowering her fork to stab an innocent grape sitting in the corner of her lunch tray. "That first movie night we had…well you and Damian were curled up on the couch…" Marissa blushed at the mention of _that_ little accident. She'd fallen asleep during the movie and the next thing she knew she was having pillows thrown at her and waking up on the loveseat practically sitting on Damian's lap. "So the real question here is…do you like Damian?"

Marissa's normally calm eyes went wide. "No!" The word was out of her mouth before she knew it which only raised suspicion in the other girl's eyes because she'd spoken so quickly. Marissa, however, quickly recovered. "I mean…I don't like Damian like that. I just fell asleep…and somehow scooted over."

"But does he know that?" Alyssa questioned, facial expression going from curious to serious in a milli-second.

"Of course he does. Damian and I are _just_ friends." Marissa assured, confident that that's _all_ they were and ever would be. "Besides I like somebody else."

"Oh yeah?" Alyssa asked, eyebrows shooting upwards. "Who would that be?"

"N-no-nobody." Marissa stuttered, cheeks flaming red as she wished she'd just kept her mouth shut. _Why, why, _why_ did she have to say that?_

"That's what you say. Now…who is it? Might as well tell me or I'll just keep bugging you about it." Alyssa _was_ very persistent. Marissa wasn't sure if that had anything to do with the fact that her mother was a lawyer or if it just happened to be in her personality.

Marissa gave a resigned sigh. No point in not telling her. She _did_ trust Alyssa after all. They _were_ best friends. So why _not_ tell her that she was crushing on-

"Cameron!" The name came out as more of a squeak than anything. Alyssa's eyes went bug eyed.

"You like-" Before the blonde girl could even _think_ about finishing that sentence, Marissa chunked a few grapes at her to shut her up. Alyssa gave her an accusing glare.

"Hey guys…" Cameron paused just right beside their table, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two girls in curiosity. "Um…am I interrupting something?"

"No."

"Yes." Cameron raised an eyebrow at Alyssa who just shrugged.

"Just sit down Cam." Marissa said, waving a pale hand at the empty spot beside her. Cameron complied and sat down, allowing his backpack to slide from his shoulders and onto the concrete. "Where Damian at?" Marissa asked, her eyes already scanning the area for their Irish friend.

"He's in the bathroom cleaning blue slushy off of himself." Cameron explained as he dumped his lunch sack out onto the table. A PB&J sandwich, a bag of Doritos, and a candy bar all scattered across the table along with a brilliant red apple that rolled dangerously close to the edge of the table. Cameron reached out, plucking the apple and setting it farther away from the edge.

"He was slushied?" Alyssa asked.

"I do believe that's what I said." Cameron replied, a smirk adorning his face as she shot him a fake glare.

"It's just Monday though." Marissa muttered under her breath. "Why can't they give us a break?"

"I say we slushy them. See how _they_ like being hit with freezing cold high fructose corn syrup." They all laughed then, musing at how they'd _love_ to slushy the football players just to see their stunned expressions. How _great_ it would be to _laugh _at them and call _them_ the losers for once.

"That would be…_fantastic._ Too bad it won't be happening any time soon." Marissa commented. There was a collective sigh from the trio. A fantasy, that's all it was because nobody had the guts to do it.

"I like your shirt Damian." Alyssa said teasingly as soon as she spotted their friend sulking up to the table, carrying his tray. Marissa's eyes took in the white button up shirt Damian was sporting. There was a large, blue slushy stain that covered the top of the shirt.

"Thanks." The Irish boy muttered sarcastically, and then grumbled something under his breath about the guys who'd slushied him. Damian sat beside Alyssa and began jabbing his food, much like the girls were.

"You know this is why I bring my lunch." Cameron commented as he eyed their prodding forks.

Damian ignored him as he took a bite of the lasagna they'd been served. Alyssa wrinkled her nose at his action, but said nothing as she opted to eat the grapes she had left. "Cameron you could just make enough sack lunches for the three of." Marissa joked, eyes glancing over at the lanky boy beside her.

However Marissa's teasing smile faded once she saw Cameron's eyes flit from her face to the apple sitting on the table. The odd part was that he didn't look back up at her, a frown replacing his former smile. What was going on here? Had Marissa done something to upset Cameron? If so, _what_ had she done to cause him to act this way around her?

* * *

><p>When Mr. Schuester walked into the choir room he found Lindsay and Rachel in a heated conversation that probably would have only gotten worse if he wouldn't have interrupted just in time. He wasn't sure what had gotten into the two girls, but that's all they did anymore was argue. Will had thought they would get along at first because they were so much alike. They both had that passion for performing that shined brighter than any of the others and they both sounded <em>incredible<em> so what had went wrong?

Will ordered the two girls to sit down _away_ from each other, giving them stern looks in the process. "We're not going to get _anything_ done if all we're doing is arguing! Come on guys we've got to pull ourselves together." Mr. Schuester folded his arms across his chest and then continued on. "So I've decided that you're going to be performing duets again this year." Mr. Schue held up a hat filled with slips of paper, waved it around carefully to show them. "I'm going to call you up and you're going to pick a name. That person will be your duet partner." Rachel perked up, but Will pinned his eyes on her and then on Lindsay. "Lindsay, Rachel you two aren't going to have to choose because you two are going to be duet partners. You'll work together _without_ arguing and you'll be the first to perform considering that's all you ever argue about. Now, moving on."

Several people snickered at Rachel and Lindsay, both girls looking unhappy about their duet partner. But Mr. Schuester paid them no attention. "Finn why don't you come choose first?" Finn did just that, walking up and randomly plucking a slip of paper from the hat.

"Um…Quinn." Finn said, a look of uncertainty flashing across his face before going on to take his seat again.

Mr. Schue sighed. "Marissa." The red haired girl came to choose her own slip and bit her lip at what she saw.

"Damian." She announced. A slightly discontented look flashed across the young girl's face as she turned around to amble back over to her former seat.

Mr. Schuester raised an eyebrow, but continued on calling out names to come up and pick their partners. Most of the glee clubbers didn't seem to mind their partners. He wasn't surprised that Santana and Brittany were pleased, and Alex and Mercedes seemed pretty happy to be working together. "Alyssa." The name slipped from his mouth, his eyes searching for the short girl who stood up almost immediately. She was the last one to come up so she probably already knew who her partner was, but might as well let her pick the name from the hat like everybody else.

Alyssa sauntered up, biting her lip the entire time, with her brows furrowed as if in deep thought. She placed her hand in the hat to pull out the last slip of paper, allowing a sigh to pass by her lips as she read out the name. "Cameron." She bit down on her lip again before returning off to her seat, that thoughtful expression not once leaving her face.

"Okay then guys, you and your duet partners will pick a song and perform it sometime during the week. Good luck guys."

* * *

><p>Later that day Cameron found himself sitting in the local Lima café, sitting in a booth across from Alyssa as they tried to figure out what duet they'd be singing. Well it seemed almost like <em>he<em> was doing more song searching than she was. Alyssa was just sitting across from him, sipping her third cup of coffee and looking deep in thought like she'd been since they'd all left practice.

"You're going to be bouncing off the walls later." Cameron spoke up, breaking her concentration as she blinked several times, surprised she was being called back to reality. Cameron raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't comment. Instead he chose to say, "Have any ideas what duet you want to sing?" Okay so maybe Cameron would have rather been Marissa's partner, not that he had anything against Alyssa. Ever since finding Marissa curled up beside Damian on the couch he'd been completely unsure of what to do because Damian obviously like Marissa, but then again so did he.

Alyssa tapped her fingers against the tabletop which had all sorts of nonsense scratched into it. She bit her bottom lip again, something she'd been doing a lot since Glee rehearsal. "Cameron…I don't want to sing a duet with you."

Cameron raised his eyes again, slightly shocked at this. "Why not?"

"Because I…um…" Alyssa fumbled for an excuse, eyes darting every which way as she tried to find a believable explanation. "I um…"

"You're not going to _lie_ to me are you?" Cameron mused.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "I don't want to sing with you because _Marissa_ wants to sing with you, _not_ Damian." It came out a little hurried, meaning it was probably something she wasn't supposed to tell him. Of course Alyssa was an awful liar, a fact that she hadn't quite admitted to yet.

The three cups of coffee she'd had was just now starting to get to her. Cameron could tell by the way she kept tapping her fingers on the tabletop. He'd seen her hyper before and after she was hyper you couldn't get her to shut up. It didn't help that you couldn't really understand what she was saying because of how fast she spoke. Getting her hyper wasn't even that hard to do. A girl her size could only take so much caffeine and sugar without getting onto a sugar high soon after.

"Yeah?"

Alyssa nodded. "Yes if it wasn't completely obvious, which is why I don't want to sing with you. You, my friend, are going to sing with Marissa."

Cameron sighed and asked, "And what are you going to do to get _that_ done?"

Alyssa flashed Cameron a mischievous grin, her ongoing tapping not ceasing in the slightest. "I have a few ideas."

* * *

><p><em>AN~_

_So I told you guys I was going to start responding to your reviews…well I'm starting now…which means if any of you have any questions or anything then I'm all ears and I probably even have answers. ^_^_

_**TeamDamsay: **__Well I can't exactly tell you that. I'm not going to give anything away, but if it helps I'm going to start writing oneshots based around the TGP couples. But this is one of those 'you gotta read to find out' circumstances, but if you wish to unsubscribe it's your choice. I hope you don't though. _

_**XxBlaineXKurtxx: **__Hehe I'm glad you like it. I have no idea where the salt shaker idea came from, but I thought it would be funny if she threw something at him. :D_

_**writtenbypoppy: **__I'm so glad you like my story! And I'm happy you voted on the poll!_

_**lucywatson: **__Thank you for voting. You love my writing? Do you know how happy that makes me? _

_**Erinlee: **__Hehe there will definitely be more of Rachel and Lindsay clashing. Jesse is always up to something, you'll just have to keep reading to find out what he'd up to. ;)_

_*lets out deep breath* Do you have any idea how relieved I am to hear you think Alyssa is far from being a Mary-Sue? Haha that's the last thing I wanted. _

_Okay so…about the oneshots I was thinking about posting. I'm posting the first one tonight and every…ten reviews I'll post another one and so on. The first one I'm posting is a Cameron/Marissa pairing because I love you guys. The oneshot was actually originally written for something else completely, but I thought I'd change it a little bit. The title of the oneshot series will be 'To Move On Is To Grow' so go over there and let me know what you think and request pairings and such._

_Now let's see what else do I have to ramble about…School starts for me in TEN days. I don't know how busy I'll be, the start of my junior year in high school will definitely be interesting. I have Algebra II this year and I'm scared out of my mind. Not only that but I've still got to finish writing my essay for my summer AP English project and the eight editorial pieces which is a part of that project, meaning I'm going to be busy doing that! AND I've got to study for my drivers test (I know…starting my junior year and I still don't have a license, I'm terrible). _

_Also to finish my unimportant ramblings…for those of you who having voted on the poll go, go, go! :D_

_Oh and any duets you'd like to see? _


	9. Duets II

**Chapter 9**

Tuesday and they'd yet to find a duet to sing. Sure it had only been a day since the assignment had been given to them, but Rachel Berry wanted to make sure she had plenty of practice. That way she could prove how much better she was than Lindsay. So she'd hunted Lindsay down after school and told her to come to the café or else she'd pick the duet herself.

Rachel had secretly been hoping Lindsay wouldn't show.

"Here. This is the duet I've picked out for us to sing." Rachel pushed sheet music so that Lindsay was staring down at it. Rachel was wearing a smug look. She'd never expected Lindsay to be such competition, but after seeing a few of her performances Rachel had realized that Lindsay _was_ competition. "You'll sing this part right here," Rachel placed a pointer finger on the lines Lindsay would be singing, and then to her own part, "And I'll sing this part."

Rachel watched as Lindsay's blue eyes scanned the sheet music, her neutral face changing into a very unpleased one. "Rachel are you _kidding_ me? I've only got _two_ lines out of this entire song!" Lindsay sat back in her seat, not caring that the couple sitting in the booth behind Rachel was casting quick glances at them. "We're going to pick a song that has _equal_ parts for both of us or else I'm going to talk to Mr. Schuester!"

"This song will clearly display my stronger voice _and_ demonstrate that I'm a _much_ better performer than you are." Rachel argued. "Besides, Mr. Schue is already fed up with us fighting all the time."

Lindsay's face flushed bright pink, which caused Rachel to bite back a smug smile. Lindsay was going to give in, and she honestly hoped now would be when she did because Rachel was tired of always having to have to _work_ to outshine the younger girl. Normally she didn't have to work all that hard to outshine _anybody_, but with Lindsay here things were different. And a helluva lot more complicated. "No way. I'm _not _singing this duet with you Rachel. _I'll _pick the duet."

At that Lindsay stood, giving Rachel one last intense glare before practically storming out of the café. Rachel stared after the younger girl, wondering why on earth she had to be so _persistent_. Why could she cave like many others had done? Rachel just wanted to be in the spotlight. Was that really so much to ask for?

Another day of Vocal Adrenaline practice and Samuel was ready to _die_. Although he _had_ managed to skip today, though he knew he'd pay for that tomorrow. Heck he'd thought it had been bad at first, but he was _so_ wrong. The longer school went on the harder Jesse was on him. More practices were taking up any of his free time, meaning he was no longer completely focused on school work. Instead he was always thinking about Vocal Adrenaline and _singing_.

His friends _tried_ to distract Jesse every day. They screwed up in rehearsal just so Jesse would quit nagging at him. Samuel definitely appreciated their efforts, but Jesse's attention always seemed to come right back to him. Maybe he was still pissed off because Lindsay left, or maybe he really did just want to win this year. Hell who knew what was on Jesse St. James mind.

Samuel certainly didn't know. Jesse _had_ seemed pretty distracted here recently though, despite the fact he still managed to bitch at Samuel. He was either not on pitch or forgetting lyrics. It wasn't like him to forget lyrics. He'd never _forgotten_ lyrics. Ever.

But that was before joining Vocal Adrenaline.

Of course he _really_ needed to get his mind off of Jesse and Vocal Adrenaline. Samuel was seriously starting to think about them _too_ much. It was stressing him out even more than usual.

Samuel sighed as he stared up at the ceiling of bedroom. Posters of various bands were plastered all over his walls. He had Geometry homework to do. Homework that probably would get done anytime soon. His teacher would kill him if he forgot to turn in his homework again. Of course he'd have more time to do homework if it weren't for all those damned glee rehearsals.

The dreadlocked boy swore under his breath. So much for not thinking about it. He'd gone for about a good twenty seconds without thinking about glee. Samuel rolled over in bed, hand reaching for the cell phone sitting on the end table. He scrolled through his contacts before finding his friend, Hannah's number. He pressed the call button, hoping she picked up because he desperately needed to do something that would get his mind off of Vocal Adrenaline.

"Hey Sam. What's up?" Hannah answered the phone after just a few seconds.

Samuel smiled as he spoke. "Nothing. Everything. I need a distraction. Wanna hang out?"

"A distraction from glee I'm guessing. I'm actually over at a friends right now, but I'm sure he won't mind if you come over." Hannah quickly asked somebody in the background if Samuel could come over. It must have been a yes because Hannah said, "He's says it's cool."

"Okay. What's the address? I'll be over soon."

Samuel pulled into the driveway of a two story house, parking behind the black Dodge sitting in the drive. He climbed out of his own car and ambled on up to the front door, wondering what friend of Hannah's this was. There was no telling with her. The girl was friends with just about everybody, not that that was a bad thing because she was a good friend. A friend that he could count on.

As soon as Samuel knocked on the front door it opened to reveal a grinning Hannah. "Come on in Sammy." Samuel rolled his eyes at the nickname, but proceeded into the house, following his friend to a set of stairs that more than likely led to the basement. They both thudded on down the stairs to a semi-large room. A fifty inch TV sat off against one of the walls, surrounded by a sectional couch where a few teens were all laid out. Samuel's eyes scanned the room, taking note of the guitar that was leaning against the left wall. Not too far off from it sat a mini fridge. "Guys this is my friend Samuel. Samuel this is Cameron, Damian, and Alyssa."

Samuel nodded to them in greeting before going to plop down on the couch beside Hannah. He glanced around at her friends. A boy with black framed glasses was lounging in the middle of the couch, staring at the TV. A girl was sitting in the corner of the sectional, holding a notebook in her hands and scribbling away with the other guy's legs resting in her lap. Said guy was just lying there, staring at the ceiling, looking lost in his own little world.

"Nice to meet you Samuel." The one boy, Cameron, said as he tore his eyes away from the TV to look over at him.

"Um yeah. Nice to meet you all."

"Ditto." The brown haired boy muttered and Samuel caught a slight trace of an accent.

Samuel tried for a smile, but failed. There was too much on his mind. "Um…what's she doing?" Samuel asked, nodding his head towards Alyssa whose brows were scrunched together in concentration as she continued scribbling away. "Art project?" Samuel guessed, not really quite sure what else she could be doing.

Hannah sighed. "We don't really know _what_ she's doing. She freaks out every time any of us get near her…or the notebook."

Alyssa paid them no attention. Either that or she didn't hear them at all. Samuel began to listen to Hannah's chattering, throwing in a smile or two at something funny, but otherwise not talking. Her friend, Cameron, didn't seem to be too talkative either, but then again Hannah happened to be the only one who was talking. Samuel couldn't really call it talking though. It was more like chattering than anybody. Of course it was better to listen to her than to think about Vocal Adrenaline.

"Don't even _think_ about it Damian McGinty!" Samuel's eyes shot up when Alyssa practically shouted. Damian had sat up and was now reaching over to try to take the notebook from her. Alyssa was stretching her arms out of reach the best she could while Damian struggled with her to get the notebook, laughing while he did. Hannah cracked up at the sight and even Samuel broke into a grin. "Will you stop that?" Alyssa swatted at Damian's hands, but he kept trying to take the notebook from her. Alyssa narrowed her eyes at Damian, trying to get away from the grip he now had on her arm.

Cameron was watching them the whole time, shaking his head in amusement, not agitation. "Whatever you two do…_don't_ break anything."

"Ugh!" Alyssa scrambled to get off the sectional, but she basically just fell off, landing flat on her face. Her notebook fell a few feet away from her, so she instantly crawled over to gain possession of it again. She lifted herself off of the floor, brushing the back of her pants off before giving Damian and indignant glare. "I'm going to put _this_ up." She declared before marching away from the couch and off to do just that, leaving the rest of them still chuckling at the scene that had just played out before him.

"What was she doing that she didn't want us to see?" Damian asked, glancing between Hannah and Cameron.

Cameron was the first one to answer. "There's no telling. Scheming more than likely. So Damian what song are you and Marissa going to sing?"

Damian shrugged his shoulders. "We're not sure yet. Still deciding."

"Hey Damian! Do you think you could help me with something Thursday?" Alyssa's voice interrupted whatever Cameron had been about to say as the short girl casually walked back into the room, notebook free this time.

"Um…sure…what is it?" Damian asked, looking slightly reluctant.

"I need help with…um…" Samuel watched as Alyssa furrowed her brows, rubbing the back of her neck as she tried to re-call what she was going to say. At least Samuel was almost positive that was what she was trying to do. "Oh! Well you see I sort of failed that last Geometry test we took and Mr. Steven's is giving us that do-over Friday and he told me _you_ were good at math. So I was wondering if you could…um…help me…study…for the test Friday." There were a lot of pauses in her sentence. Out of the corner of his eyes, Samuel caught Cameron shaking his in disbelief. Samuel wondered if Alyssa was lying, or perhaps just making this up as she went along.

Damian rubbed the back of his neck and then said, "Um…I think Marissa and I are supposed to perform our duet Thursday…"

Alyssa bit her bottom lip, looking lost for a second before quickly replying with, "I can talk to Mr. Schuester about switching our days. That way we can perform on different days."

A sigh escaped Damian's lip as he nodded reluctantly. "I guess that'll be fine then."

Alyssa punched the air, letting out an exultant laugh. "Thank you _so_ much! Maybe I won't fail this time." She said, laughing as she plopped back down on the couch beside Damian who was shaking his head at her, a smile playing on his lips.

Samuel glanced between Cameron, Alyssa, and Damian. Cameron was looking slightly shocked, Alyssa relieved, and Damian just looked lost in another world. Perhaps it was just him, or maybe the stress getting to his head, but he was almost positive something was going on that even Hannah didn't know about.

Ellis was still feeling the repercussions of Samuel's absence. Jesse had been pretty pissed when Samuel didn't show for rehearsal so he had taken it out on the rest of them. Today had been like a let's-pick-on-Ellis-instead-of-Samuel day. Being drilled over and over again on the same song was mind-wrecking. Jesse had had her perform the jazz number she would be singing at Sectionals over and over again until she got it right.

That was the catch though. She hadn't gotten it right. At least it wasn't right according to Jesse.

Ellis sighed. She finally understood how Samuel felt. It was a lot more stressful than he ever let on, that much she now knew. No wonder he'd been forgetting lyrics to their songs here lately. She'd forget too if she had to worry about being bitched at by Jesse.

She walked into the public library, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. Thankfully Jesse had let them off two hours early today so she'd have plenty of time to go to the library and do some research for a history project she was working on. Ellis sought out a spot in the very back of the library and then set her bag down beside a cozy looking chair before going off to search for a book on the Great Depression. A PowerPoint was to be made and presented to class this Friday. Not only that but they were required to go into detail about their chosen subject. Meaning that Ellis had to actually do a lot of research.

As she rummaged around the nonfiction books for something on the Great Depression she heard somebody sneeze off on the other row. Curious, she peeked around the tall bookcase only to see a boy standing there, wiping at his nose. Ellis gaped at the boy's height. He couldn't have been but 4_"_9. Was he her age? Or just some kid?

To find out Ellis stepped out from behind the bookcase so that she was in full view. "Bless you."

The boy jumped, his eyes snapping up to look at her. "Oh…hey…" He laughed all of a sudden, running a hand through his dark hair. "You kind of…scared me."

"So," Ellis started to say as she walked up to him, her eyes glancing over at him. "What are you doing looking at _that_? You can't be more than…eleven…twelve?"

The boy laughed, shaking his head. "I'm a _freshman_ in high school thank you. And what about _you_? You don't look so old yourself."

Ellis grinned at that. "I'm a freshman over at Carmel High. You?"

"I go to McKinley. I came here to find a book for some stupid English project I'm supposed to be doing."

"Oh really?" Ellis pondered, tapping her foot. "What book are you looking for? I'm Ellis by the way." She quickly provided her name. Might as well get introductions out of the way. She kind of wanted to get to know this boy better despite the fact he was competition if he as in New Directions.

"I'm Matteus. And I'm glad you asked…because I could _really_ use some help."

_A/N~_

_So Matteus (am I spelling that right?) and Ellis are finally introduced…Rachel wants the spotlight all to herself and Lindsay isn't too happy, Alyssa's scheme is being put into works, and Samuel is still stressed because of Jesse. _

_I think I have an idea of what songs will be sung. Um…I've posted the first oneshot, just a few more reviews until fifty on here and I'll have the next one up. The next one will be Damsay, just to let you know. If you haven't voted on my poll then head on over there and vote. Ah and I have great news (well it's great to me) I just found out that I passed my freaking Geometry end of course exam from my sophomore year and I'm _so_ glad to finally know about that because I didn't want to remediate. _

_Sorry for my ramblings…now to begin replies to my lovely reviewers. =)_

_**LilyLunaCho: **__I try to update as often as I can, then again with school coming up I honestly don't know how often that will be. As for Marissa and Cameron's performing a duet…well a certain someone is scheming to get just that done. :D_

_**Elphie128 Musical Lover: **__Thumbs up to you for reviewing. =)_

_**Jamie: **__Hiding? Haha it's great to have you reviewing, like seriously. I always look forward to my readers reviews. They always brighten my day. As for relationships…I actually only have one or two actually set in stone, but hey you know teenagers and relationships…some hardly ever last…_

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx: **__Haha. You know at first I was confusled when I read the PS…but that's just because I'm me and all and I'm easily confused. So…just to make sure I was right…Cameron thinks Marissa likes Damian…and then that's where I got confused… Haha :D_

_**lucywatson: **__Thanks again for reviewing. Anyhoo the first oneshot is up so I hopes you likes it. =)_

_**Erinlee: **__I'll admit I don't like Lindsay, but I _love_ writing them arguing and such. *sigh* _

_**TeamDamsay: **__Yay! You won't unsubscribe! Haha. _


	10. Duets III

**Chapter 10**

Lindsay tapped her fingers on the table as she tried to conjure up an idea for her duet. Rachel had been picking songs that she didn't even like. Well she liked some of the songs, it was just that it didn't seem fair to her that Rachel would be getting to sing just about the entire song. "What's wrong with you?" Lindsay jumped in surprise as a deep voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned her head only to see her older brother, Daniel, standing there.

Daniel raised an eyebrow at her, pulling back a chair at the dinner table so that he could sit down. "Nothing." She answered, shaking her head. Daniel was the youngest of her three older brothers. Her other two brothers were off at college, being the amazing athletic guys they were. Not only did she not bear any resemblance to any of her family, but she didn't share any of their interests either. Her eldest brother was a football star and he took after their father with his black hair. Her other brother was at college for baseball and he too had dark hair. Daniel, however, was a soccer star. He used to attend McKinley, back when they still had soccer, but after they cut the program he transferred to Carmel. He looked _just_ like their mother with his auburn hair and he acted just like her too.

Lindsay, however, had been adopted. She'd always hated that. She hated how people would come up to her or her parents and ask if she was adopted. She lied every time, telling them that she hadn't, but it was kind of obvious she had with her pale blonde hair. So when she'd turned fourteen she'd started dying it just so she could fit in. Sure she had absolutely no interest in athletics, but at least she looked like she fit in now.

"Yeah. You said that it was '_nothing_' when you didn't get the lead role for that play of yours when you were in seventh grade." Daniel commented. "Come on Linds I know you better than that. What's on your mind?" Daniel raised an eyebrow at her expectantly. Now he wasn't going to leave her alone.

Lindsay sighed. "We're doing duets in Glee club and Mr. Schue paired me up with Rachel Berry. Remember her?"

Daniel snorted, nodding as he recalled the girl she was talking about. Considering he was the same age as Rachel and he'd once attended McKinley, then of course he remembered her. Once meeting Rachel Berry it was _very_ hard to forget her. "Of course…um sorry you got stuck with her."

"No it's not _that_. I don't mind, really. But she keeps choosing all of these duets that have _her_ singing the majority of the song and I'm trying to think of a good song that we can both sing and have equal parts."

"Well Linds you know I'm not this incredibly talented musician or anything, _but_ I think I know the perfect song for you two to sing." Daniel chucked Lindsay under the chin, earning an annoying look from her. He chuckled before pushing his chair backwards and standing up. "Come on then. Get off your butt." Lindsay laughed, taking her older brother's outstretched hand and allowing him to pull her up.

* * *

><p>"Happy Wednesday everybody." Alyssa chimed happily as she took a seat at the picnic table. She casually glanced around the table, catching a few somber expressions plastered on the faces of her friends. "Or not happy Wednesday?" She rolled her eyes, but emptied her paper sack, allowing it's contents to roll out onto the table before her. After about a month of the cafeteria's food she'd decided to start packing her own lunch. "So has <em>anybody <em>decided duets?"

Marissa raised her head at that, shrugging her shoulders. "Not yet. What about you two?" she asked, her eyes darting over to Cameron who was sitting there, looking bored as ever.

Alyssa tapped her fingers on the table. She knew the look Marissa was giving him. It was _the_ look. The look teenage girls gave guys when they were crushing hard. "Um…truthfully we haven't-"

"Actually we _have_ decided what song we're going to sing." Alyssa interrupted Cameron quickly, shooting him a quick look. "We…were…um…haha…well…" The blonde cleared her throat, trying her best to conjure up…well_ something_ to say. "Marissa I need you to help Cameron practice the song because I have…." Alyssa's voice trailed off again.

"She's going to church tonight." Cameron jumped in at the last moment, shrugging at Alyssa who quickly glanced over at him. Since when had she started attending church? "My parents are out of town and I needed somebody to take my little brother tonight because I have to start practicing on the duet some."

"Yeah." Alyssa drawled slowly, biting down on her bottom lip.

"You have a brother?" Marissa asked curiously, apparently not knowing he had a brother. Not that Alyssa had known either.

Cameron nodded. "His name's Blake. He's just twelve." Cameron bit into the apple he'd brought along with his lunch, chewing on it as he blinked over at Marissa. He swallowed and asked, "So what time do you wanna help me practice the song?"

Heat rushed up to color Marissa's cheeks a bright pink. It was all Alyssa could do to not giggle at her, but that'd probably get her in trouble so she fought against it. Her little unplanned scheme was working out just fine…for now at least. With her luck something was bound to go wrong at some point. "Um how about four o'clock?"

"Cool. You can come over to my house to help."

A grin formed on Marissa's lip and she looked just fine with that. Actually more than fine, ecstatic even. "Yeah that's fine. Aren't you two performing Friday?" Marissa asked, her eyes darting between Alyssa and Cameron.

"Actually I asked Mr. Schue if it was okay if we switched days with you and Damian…if that's okay with you I mean." Alyssa rushed in to say.

"Oh of course that's okay." Marissa replied easily. "I don't mind." A sigh passed Alyssa's lips and she mentally congratulated herself for not being a complete fail at life. _Phase two is complete. I think._ Alyssa thought as her other two friends chattered on. Getting Damian to help her study hadn't really been planned, but it worked. He'd seemed pretty hesitant about switching days with them, but thankfully he'd agreed. Marissa had absolutely no problems with switching days. Now…speaking of Damian…

Alyssa's eyes scanned the cafeteria, searching for their Irish friend, He wasn't with the other gleeks, not the preps, not jocks. Where could he be? "Ah ha!" Alyssa spoke aloud without really meaning too, but she had found Damian actually walking over their way, balancing his tray in one hand and a plastic cup in the other. A smile formed on her lips while watching him, but then something caught her eye.

A jock that regularly gave the gleeks slushy facials was ambling off towards Damian, an arrogant smirk playing on his face as he did. Damian, however, seemed completely oblivious because he was concentrating on not dropping anything. The jock, whose name Alyssa couldn't recall, took one hand and hit Damian's hand that was holding his tray of food. The tray flew backwards towards Damian, hitting his chest and smearing food all over his light red button up shirt. A few people sitting buy burst into laughter as the jock called out, "Loser!"

"Did that guy _really_ just do that?" Cameron asked as he stared at their friend incredulously. Alyssa was sure none of them had expected that, especially Damian who tried his best to shake it off before walking back to their table.

Damian was looking sulky, if that was the correct word to use for how he looked. Pissed off would have worked too. "Ah, you have spaghetti sauce all over your shirt." Alyssa commented as she pulled a noodle off of the sleeve of his shirt. Damian didn't say anything as he began to unbutton his shirt, revealing a white t-shirt.

"Don't pay them any mind Damian. They only pick on us because we're awesome. That and they're jealous of your accent." Cameron commented as he began to unwrap his sandwich.

"Whatever." Damian muttered under his breath as he set his shirt on the table.

"Cam's right." Alyssa agreed. "Hey," Her eyes cut towards the plastic cup he'd been carrying. "What's that slushy for?" She asked, the green liquid in the cup catching her attention. What on _earth_ was Damian carrying a slushy around for? "Oh…well I was thirsty…"

"Well here. Take my Pepsi. Don't look at me like that, just take it." Alyssa set the Pepsi down in front of Damian, taking the slushy in her hands. Marissa, Cameron, and Damian shot her suspicious looks. "I'm probably going to regret this later…and I'll probably feel terrible because I know it doesn't feel great…but that guy was being a jerk…and it'll be worth it…hopefully." Her last words were muttered as she stood up, sighing.

"Alyssa _what_ are you doing?" Marissa asked but received no answer as Alyssa strode over to the jock that had flipped Damian's tray. Alyssa wasn't walking in the most confident fashion. She wasn't as egotistical enough to pull off the sort of walk that a lot of the jocks and Cheerios presented. The girl tried to gather a brave look, but just ended up looking like a frightened little kid as she reared her arm back and let the green liquid fly from the cup. She swallowed as the icy liquid splashed all over the boy's face.

"_That_ is for being a _jackass_!" Alyssa's declaration was accompanied by a narrowing of her eyes before she spun around to walk back towards her friends. That left the jock with a half stunned, half-pissed look on his face and the laughter of his friends. "I'm going to regret that." Alyssa confirmed, her face flushing a light pink.

Cameron, Marissa, and Damian all stared at her, shocked at her previous actions. "You _think_?" Cameron finally got out, eyes wide. "That guy is going to ambush you with slushies for doing that." Alyssa groaned, shoving her food away as she lay her head on the table.

"I _know!_ I'm so stupid."

"Well if it makes you feel any better…thanks for doing that." Damian tried to offer her a bit of humorous comfort.

They all broke into a chorus of laughter. Even Alyssa laughed despite the fact she figured she'd get slushied tomorrow. And the next day.

The group moved on to another subject, a happier one. Cameron and Alyssa shared their food with Damian whose lunch was on his other shirt. They kept on chatting until the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the start of sixth period. Damian went off to whatever class he had and Marissa took off the other way. Cameron and Alyssa both had Biology together so they headed that way.

Alyssa glanced up at Cameron and asked him, "So do you really have a brother?"

A smirk adorned his lips as he answered, "Yeah I do. And you _really_ have to take him to church tonight."

"Of course I do." Alyssa said like it was completely obvious. "Thank your for coming up with something to say though, because I'm-"

"Terrible at lying?" Cameron guessed, receiving a confirming nod from her. "Yeah I sort of noticed. Now what song is it I'm supposed to be singing?"

Alyssa snapped her fingers as she paused in the middle of the hallway to reach into her bag, shuffling through the mass of papers that had been stuffed into it. "I've _really_ got to get more organized." She muttered to herself as she finally found the sheets of paper she was looking for. "Here. The highlighted part is what you'll sing, the un-highlighted lines are Marissa's. Make sure she knows the part because if this plan doesn't work then I'll be a fail. An epic fail." Her voice was half-serious as she shoved the papers at Cameron, making sure he had a hold of them before dropping her hands back to her sides.

She wanted this to work out for her friends, more than anything.

* * *

><p>"Cameron! Where's your brother?" Alyssa's shout came from the living room. Cameron walked from the kitchen and into the other room only to see an agitated Alyssa standing by the front door, tapping her foot impatiently. Cameron snickered at her and she flat out glared at him. "Seriously Cam, we're going to be late if he doesn't come on." Alyssa tapped her watch free wrist just to emphasize her point.<p>

"Okay, okay. Have patience. Blake! Get down here!"

"I don't wanna go!" Was his younger brothers shouted response.

"You have to go to church Blake!"

"Not with her! She's weird!"

"Blake!" This time Cameron's voice held a warning, one that clearly wasn't going to be ignored because he finally heard his brother thudding down the staircase, wearing a sulky look on his face. "If it makes you feel better, Damian's gonna ride there with you guys." Cameron said to his sullen brother as he reached the bottom. He mussed Blake's brown hair up, chuckling as Blake swatted his hands away in agitation. "Here are the keys to my truck." Cameron held the keys in the air towards Alyssa who reached out to take them, but Cameron lifted them a little bit higher, just out of her reach. "Whatever you do, _don't_ wreck my truck. Don't even _scratch_ it. Okay?"

"I'm not _that_ bad of a driver." Alyssa scoffed, clearly not happy with the merest implication that she would mess his truck up.

"Then why don't you have your own car?"

Alyssa glared up at him. "_Because_ my dad doesn't think I'm responsible enough to have my own car."

"And _that_ gives me reason not to trust you to drive my car."

Alyssa stuck his tongue out at Cameron, snatching the car keys from him as soon as he brought them within her reach. "C'mon kiddo. We have to pick Damian up." Blake glared at Alyssa when she called him 'kiddo', but chose to stalk out of the front door instead of comment. Alyssa shot Cameron a half-baffled look. "I don't think your brother likes me very much."

Cameron chuckled. "He'll get used to you maybe. Now _go_. Damian's waiting for you to pick him up. I'm, usually there to get him by this time."

"Not my fault your brother doesn't like me and insisted on not going."

"Just go Alyssa."

"Fine then." Sticking her tongue out at him immaturely, the blonde spun on her heels to walk out of the house, shutting the door firmly behind her. Was Cameron worried that she might damage his truck? Just a little bit.

* * *

><p><em>AN~_

_So here we're introduced to one of Linday's older brothers…and find out she dyes her hair…_

_Sooooo anyhow…_

_**LilyLunaCho: **__I'll admit Lindsay is very talented (not that that makes me like her anymore). Thank you (again) for reviewing._

_**AbsurdAnimals: **__Thank you. Haha I had no idea if I was spelling it right._

_**: **__Haha I'm glad you don't think Alyssa is annoying!_

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx: **__Okay I understand now! (Excuse my slowness, I have my occasional blonde moments) And my little sister is eleven and thinks she's going to marry all these stars that she crushes on. And I've had my moments where I've felt like a total creeper before. _

_**Searching4fabrevans: **__Thank you, thank you, and thank you again. And I'm uberly glad you find Alyssa interesting. I spend every single written word trying my best not to make her…too much…or to even have her leaning in the direction of being a Mary-Sue. And don't worry I'm definitely going to have more Lindsay, Samuel, and McKynleigh in along with the other TGP peoples. I'll gradually add them all in. And Damian definitely likes Marissa, not Alyssa (I actually never realized that their names rhymed until after I wrote the first chapter XD). _

_Okay so…what do I have to say that I find important…well first off I updated today because it's my VERY LAST NIGHT OF MY SUMMER VACATION THAT I HAVE! It's tragic really. I have, at least, managed to get my eight editorials done and my essay is half-written. I'm gonna finish that little problem tomorrow. As for how often I'll get to update? I honestly don't know. I'll try to update again ASAP, the soonest will be next weekend (Friday actually). So…any questions? Oh and don't forget to go over and review 'To Move On Is to Grow' and such. =)_


	11. Duets IV

**Chapter 11**

Lindsay took her seat in the art room, setting her project down on the table. "Hey Alyssa."

"What's up Lindsay?" Alyssa took the time to look up from her laptop to quickly glance up at Lindsay, and then quite quickly turn her gaze back to the art project she was working on.

"Nothing, surprisingly. Hey aren't you and Cameron singing your duet today?" Lindsay asked curiously as she fixed a few things on her model of her city. It was almost perfected, she just had to add a few finishing touches to it. She was thinking of putting her face on the billboard, advertising a Broadway show that she would be starring in.

"Uh…no…I mean…sort of." Alyssa muttered busily as she clicked away at the digital city she was creating.

Lindsay cast the older girl a confused look. "What do you mean?" Normally Alyssa and Lindsay didn't talk, but here lately Lindsay had been trying to actually talk to Alyssa more that way maybe she'd have a better chance with Damian.

Alyssa turned her head then to look straight at Lindsay, her brows furrowing. "Lindsay…we're friends right?" Lindsay nodded hurriedly, motioning for her to continue. Alyssa sighed, shaking her head. "I'm supposed to be studying Geometry with Damian after school…but that's only as a distraction so Cameron and Marissa can sing a duet together."

That sent the wheels in Lindsay's mind reeling. Why would she do that? "What do you-"

"No." Alyssa said abruptly as she looked back at her laptop. "I shouldn't have told you that in the first place." Alyssa pressed her lips into a thin line, not saying another word. Now _why_ would Alyssa be distracting Damian so Marissa and Cameron could sing a duet together? Unless Marissa hadn't wanted to be Damian's partner in the first place. Perhaps that was why she'd looked so sulky the past few days.

Lindsay tapped her fingers on the table as she processed this. _Maybe_ Cameron and Marissa liked each other. But Lindsay wasn't _stupid_. She'd seen the way Damian looked at Marissa, the way that guys looked at girls when they liked them but were too afraid to make a move. So what was Lindsay to do with this newfound information that she had in the palm of her hands?

She was about to find out.

* * *

><p>Alyssa busied herself with shoving her American History book in her locker, along with a few other various books. She'd been watching her back all day, always expecting to be hit right in the face with an ice cold slushy which would stain her light blue shirt. So far she'd been lucky. No slushies. Yet.<p>

She had ten minutes to go and meet Damian in the library where they'd be studying. Alyssa reached in for her Geometry book, not wanting to forget it. _This had better work_. The sixteen year old thought to herself as she slammed her locker door shut, flipping the flap of her messenger bag over. _Because I really don't want to study._ It wasn't that she had anything against Damian, because she didn't, but she hated studying for math more than anything. Biology? She could handle it. American History? Not something she really worried about. Pre-AP English? Easiest thing she'd ever had to do. But _Geometry_?It was like trying to read another language, and no matter how hard she tried she still couldn't get an A in said class.

"Hey hillbilly!" A deep, familiar voice barked sharply from somewhere behind her.

Alyssa suppressed a sigh and turned around slowly, sliding her bag off her shoulder so she could kick it a few feet away. Alyssa wouldn't be doing great if her homework got messed up and she was actually going to try and get that done tonight. "Do your worst." Alyssa commented, rolling her eyes at the three jocks standing before her, each holding a different colored slushy in their meaty hands.

The middle jock smirked and nodded at his two friends who grinned back at him mischievously. Then they turned their malicious like grins on the young girl standing there, staring at them in complete impatience. They drew their arms back and then let the combination of blue, green, and red ice cold slushy fly at her.

Alyssa's mouth dropped at the initial shock of the freezing fluid. Slushy flew in her mouth as the rest of it dripped all down her face, soaking straight through the blue Aeropostale shirt. The three jocks standing in front of her burst into laughter. "We're not through with you yet redneck, and we're definitely not through with your little friends." The guy she'd slushied in the first place retorted as they turned to walk off down the hall.

Alyssa pursed her lips as she reached down into her back, careful not to drip slushy onto it, and gingerly pulled her cell phone out. She quickly tapped into a message to Damian, letting him know she'd be late because she had to clean herself up. After pressing send she scooped her bag up and headed to get the sticky syrup off of her skin.

* * *

><p>Cameron rubbed his hands together as he watched Finn and Quinn sit down in their seats. They'd just gotten through with their rehearsal and he was starting to get nervous. It was his turn next and he was starting to get nervous. They'd all moved to the auditorium to perform their duets. Neither Damian nor Alyssa were in sight, which was supposedly as his friend had planned. "Cameron and Alyssa, you guys are up." Mr. Schuester announced.<p>

Cameron stood up, wiping his shaking hands on the denim of his skinny jeans before ambling off onto the stage to stand in the spotlight. He grabbed a hold of the mike and brought it to his mouth. "Mr. Schue, Alyssa couldn't make it because she got sick seventh period and had to go home." The lie slipped from his mouth easily despite the fact he rarely lied.

Mr. Schue furrowed his brows and was about to say something, but Marissa quickly spoke up. "Mr. Schuester I can sing the duet with Cameron. I know the song they were going to perform."

Mr. Schuester glanced over at the red haired girl who had already stood up to stride towards the stage. "Well…I suppose I could let you…"

"Damian and Alyssa can perform their duet with each other Mr. Schuester." Marissa reasoned as she went to take her place on the stage beside Cameron. She reached for the other microphone, giving Cameron a shy smile as she did.

Mr. Schuester nodded slowly. "Okay then…what will you be singing?"

* * *

><p>Lindsay peeked inside the school library, her blue eyes seeking out a certain Irish boy who was supposed to be meeting his friend here. She instantly found him sitting at a table, checking his watch and tapping his foot impatiently. She walked into the library towards the table as she tried to prepare what exactly she was going to say to him. She still hadn't quite figured it out yet, but she had an idea of what to tell him. "Hey Damian."<p>

Damian jumped when she greeted him. Lindsay figured that was because she'd just scared him. Honestly, Damian had looked lost in his own little world. "Oh…hey Lindsay." The dark haired girl noted that Damian didn't sound too enthusiastic to see her there.

"What are you doing here?" Lindsay asked as she gazed down at him.

"Waiting for Alyssa to get here. I'm supposed to be helping her study for Geometry." He replied stoically as he began to tap his fingers atop the table. Lindsay recalled her conversation with Alyssa, how she'd said Damian was supposed to be helping her study.

Lindsay furrowed her brows, glad she'd been in theater for as long as she had. "Alyssa and Cameron are singing their duet today though…"

Damian looked up at Lindsay, his eyebrows raising and eyes widening. How had he not remembered that? "What?"

"Damian…" Lindsay placed a hand on his shoulder gently as she stared down at him. "I'm sure Alyssa is in the auditorium right now…she probably just forgot she was performing her duet today." Lindsay made sure to add that hint of uncertainty to her voice, wanting to perfect this act.

"Let me see your cell phone Lindsay." Damian demanded, his hand shooting out to wait for her to drop her cell in his hand. Lindsay complied, pulling her phone out of her pocket and handing it over. She watched as he dialed a number that he obviously had memorized. He put the phone to his ear, tapping his foot impatiently all the while. "Alyssa where are you at?"

Lindsay listened closely, trying to hear what the girl was saying on the other line. She caught a few words such as 'bathroom', 'cleaning', and 'slushy', but that was it. Lindsay pinned her eyes back on Damian who was listening intently to the other girl's explanation. It seemed like she was right in the middle of saying something when Damian pulled the phone away from his ear to press the end call button and practically shove the phone at Lindsay.

Lindsay blinked in surprise, especially when Damian stood up to begin striding out of the library, leaving all of his stuff behind. She turned on her heels to walk after him, having to move at a faster pace just to keep up with him. She kept on trailing him as he turned to a sharp left, to the door that would lead him to the auditorium. Lindsay raised her eyebrows but still followed him as he pushed the door open. He stopped mid-stride and Lindsay barely managed to stop herself from running straight into him. She peeked around him, looking at the stage where Cameron and Marissa stood. Cameron was crooning the lyrics to a familiar song.

**{Cameron}**

_If I lay here_

_If I just lay here_

_Would you lie with me and just forget the world?_

_Forget what we're told_

_Before we get too old_

_Show me a garden that's bursting into life_

_Let's waste time_

_Chasing cars_

_Around our heads_

**{Marissa}**

_I need your grace_

_To remind me_

_To find my own_

_If I lay here_

_If__I just lay here_

_Would you lie with me and just forget the world?_

_Forget what we're told_

_Before we get too old_

_Show me a garden that's bursting into life_

**{Together}**

_All that I am_

_All that I ever was_

_Is her__e in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see_

_I don't know where_

_Confused about how as well_

_Just know that these things will never change for us at all_

_If I lay here_

_If I__ just lay here_

_Would you lie with me and just forget the world? _

Once they finished the song in perfect harmony their fellow glee members burst into a round of applause at the couples amazing performance. Lindsay had no doubt in her mind that they could easily excel Finn and Rachel if they pleased, but that was Lindsay's job. Well, excelling past Rachel that is. Finn she could care less for. It was Damian who she was worried about.

_Speaking of which_… Lindsay thought as she turned her eyes back to Damian who was staring at the couple on stage, looking like a little puppy dog who had just had his heart broken.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Songs:<em>**

**_Chasing Cars~ Snow Patrol_**

_A/N~ _

_So look at this girl…finally updating after a long week at school. School officially equals hectic. It was crazy. Algebra II…I have my fingers crossed about that…Pre-AP Chemistry will end up giving me a sore hand because all we've been doing is take notes, notes, and more notes. On the plus side he has a parrot named Fred. Ah and Drama…dear, dear drama. Both the class and _actual _drama and it's only been the first week of school. But the class is really great! Like a lot of fun and that's crazy coming from me, the shy, short, random girl who's always quiet in classes like that. Not to mention I'm terrible with acting…But anyways…who's excited for the finale of the Glee Project! I know I am! It's killing me not knowing who's won and I wanna know now! Eh and with all my 'school' shiz and the fact I can do zero slacking off this year I'll definitely try to update once or twice a week. It honestly depends on my schedule. _

**efb: **_Believe me I'll try to update as soon as possible.__**ClaireBelle23: **__I'm glad you like it. And thank you, thank you. =)_

_**rfherb: **__Damsay…well…eh…you never know…it could happen…and it couldn't happen. But nonetheless go over to my oneshot series To Move On Is To Grow and the second oneshot posted is Damsay (well if you haven't already). And thanks =)_

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx: **__Ah…blonde moments…yes this girl has plenty of those. And like mentioned school's a draaggggggg. Although there is this one new guy…haha anywhoo…_

_**TGIFLovinLife: **__I'm superly duperly (Yes…I said it…) glad you like Alyssa! So wait…Alyssa's the main reason your reading? If that's what you mean then I'm like…flattered! Lol. Thank you for reviewing and suchly. :D_

_**LilyLunaCho: **__Woot! Lol thanks =)_

_Okay first off…go Alyssa! Your not hated by my awesomely reviewers! Annnddd anyhow…I'm going to go now…and be all…bored and stuff…I seriously hope you guys liked this chapter. I'll admit it wasn't my best, I actually wrote it all in like…two hours because I haven't had time the past week to write…like AT ALL! It's been just that crazy. _


	12. A Break

**Chapter 12**

Alyssa stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, a feeling of melancholy washing over her. The indistinct sounds of her heavy metal music happened to be the only sound that filled her room. It had been almost a month and she still hadn't completely unpacked all of her things. A few cardboard boxes were over in the corner of her room stacked atop of each other, the top one with the word 'photos' scrawled on the side in her loopy cursive.

The sixteen year old pushed herself into a sitting position and stood off her bed before ambling over to the boxes. She reached up, carefully tugging the top box off and setting it on the floor. She collapsed onto the floor Indian-style so she could open the box. Inside sat photo albums, scrapbooks, and random photos scattered atop the others. She reached inside to pull her most recent scrapbook out, one she hadn't looked at since leaving Arkansas. Well she hadn't looked at any of the photos in a while, but she had her reasons.

She flipped the scrapbook open past a few pages filled with photos she'd taken of her family until she reached the ones of the friends she'd had back in Arkansas. The first was a picture of a trio standing with each other, arms draped around each other's shoulders. Alyssa stood in the middle with a crazy grin plastered on her face. A brunette girl sat off to her right and a girl with wavy black hair on her left. Alyssa's eyes scanned the next few pages of photos in which the brunette girl gradually disappeared from the snapshots as did a blonde boy who had appeared by Alyssa's sides in the few he'd allowed her to take.

Not everybody enjoyed having their photo's taken, something Alyssa had learned in her years of being behind the camera actually _taking_ the photos. Personally she disliked having pictures taken, but she _loved_ taking them. Of course her camera had become the enemy. It had captured the one photo that had revealed to her the truth. Alyssa swallowed back the tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes. Losing her friend had hurt almost as bad as her friend's betrayal had. She shook the thoughts out of her head, deciding it would be better not to dwell on the past and instead focus on the present.

A groan escaped the blonde's lips as she slammed the scrapbook shut and gently placed it back within its box. She peered inside, catching sight of her black Cannon Rebel. She lifted it out of the box, wiping dust particles off the top of the lens. She scrambled to her feet, nudging the box out of the way. Alyssa had absolutely no idea how she was going to sing her duet without a duet partner considering Damian was pissed at her, but she could still go out and do something besides sulk in her room.

That same melancholic feeling washed over her again as the look he'd given her formed inside her mind. But it wasn't just Alyssa. He was mad at Cameron and Marissa as well. The way he'd ignored them all yesterday had been the most obvious sign. At lunch he'd sat with Lindsay instead of with them and he hadn't even shown for glee rehearsal.

A small spark of rage ignited in the girl's mind. It was Lindsay's fault. Alyssa shouldn't had ever trust the younger girl enough to tell her anything. Plus how would Alyssa had known that Damian liked Marissa in the first place? She'd thought he had at first, but he'd never made a move, _plus_ Marissa had no feelings for the Irish boy. _Love triangles_. She thought with vague disgust as she walked to slip her shoes on. _I read way too many books. _

Alyssa walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her gently before heading off into the kitchen where her mother was sitting at the table. She was leafing through papers, more than likely _legal_ papers because her mom was a workaholic. "Mom I'm going to go out." Alyssa said, breaking the silence that filled the kitchen.

Her mom looked up, baby blue eyes sweeping over her daughter's appearance. "Okay. Grab your hoodie. It's starting to get chilly outside." Diana Vale began to look away, but her eyes snapped back over to the object in Alyssa's hand. Her mother raised a slender black eyebrow and commented, "I haven't seen _that_ in a while. I figured you'd given up on photography."

Alyssa cast her hazel eyes down at the camera. Her mom was right. It _had_ been a while since she'd last laid her hands on her camera, but things were changing. "I didn't give it up…I just…"

"Needed some time?" Diana suggested as if she knew exactly what she was thinking. "Something I can understand honey." Her mother cast Alyssa a wry smile.

Alyssa knew that her mom understood how she felt better than anybody. Her parent's marriage…well that had ended when Alyssa had been ten years old. Her mother had been the one to file the divorce after discovering that her husband was cheating on her with an over-enthusiastic hair stylist that worked in town. Alyssa's step-mother was a little too bubbly for her taste, but she was also in her late twenties while her father was in his early forties. "Yeah…" Alyssa's voice trailed off, but she immediately picked up from there by saying, "Um I was going to go visit a friend who lives in Carmel…and I was wondering if I could borrow the car?"

Diana gave her daughter a look and said, "I guess. If you're going to be out later than ten give me a call. No drugs, alcohol or sex. Don't give me that look. I was a teenager once too you know. Oh and don't wreck the car."

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "I'm _not_ a bad driver Mom and I wasn't planning on getting drunk…or high…or having sex. I just want to hang out with my friend."

"Alyssa you drive like your aunt Lydia." Her mother commented as she once again raised her blue eyed gaze to Alyssa's face.

"So…"

"_So_ when Lydia was your age she got drunk and crashed into our neighbor's house."

"Ah…" Alyssa vaguely recalled hearing that story. Her mother's younger sister had always been known as the 'delinquent' child despite the fact that she was now a real estate agent. She had heard _plenty_ of stories about her aunt Lydia. "Anyhow…I'm going to go now." Alyssa said as she grabbed the keys from the hook hanging on the wall.

"Drive safe Alyssa and I mean it."

"Will do." Alyssa said as she walked out to the garage, Thursday's incident still plaguing her mind even as she got in the car, pulled out of the drive, and took off towards Carmel.

* * *

><p>Lindsay bounced around her room excitedly as she prepped herself for the date she'd finally managed to get with Damian. After asking him out Friday he'd <em>finally<em> agreed to a date. She'd told him they could go to this place in Carmel that she had visited plenty of times before. He was supposed to be coming to pick her up around six which just a few minutes away. As for his friends…well he apparently hadn't spoken to them since Thursday. Friday, Lindsay had attempted to strike up conversation with Alyssa in art, but the other girl had been more than happy to ignore Lindsay.

She wasn't sure what words had been exchanged between Damian and Alyssa, but whatever it had been hadn't gone over well. Cameron, Marissa, and Alyssa had all been steadfastly ignoring Lindsay, but that was fine with her because she now had Damian all to herself.

A knock on her door attracted her attention away from the mirror she'd been looking in. A familiar red haired boy stuck his head in, winking at her. "Linds your '_friend_' is here." Daniel teased.

"Okay. I'll be down in a minute." Lindsay replied, watching as her brother shut the door back. Lindsay took one last look in the mirror, fluffing her curled hair once last time before grabbing her cell phone and bounding out of the door and down the stairs, feeling happier than she had all year.

* * *

><p><em>Practice, practice, practice.<em> That one little word which seemed so harmless had been drilled into Samuel's head over and over again until it was all he could think about. His stress was well known now. His mother was constantly urging him to just quit Vocal Adrenaline and focus on his other studies, the ones that would get him into a good college. Samuel, however, refused to quit. This was his way of proving to Jesse he wasn't a quitter. _Which_ was why he was in the auditorium on a Saturday night practicing with Hannah. Well Hannah had left about fifteen minutes earlier, but he had opted to stay.

Samuel dropped down to the edge of the stage, his long legs dangling over the edge as he tilted his head backwards, closing his eyes so the bright light wouldn't bother his eyes. He began to hum a song he was familiar with, one he'd been listening to a lot here lately.

_The sun is coming up_

_You wanna get out of there_

_Well here we go again_

_I'm back to where I began_

_Oh you can take my checkbook,_

_Credit cards and keep them_

_I'd give them up for just a little bit of freedom_

_And my escape, I'm planning it in my head_

_And I wish that I could,_

_Snap my fingers,_

_Make myself disappear_

_Snap my fingers_

_Get myself out of here_

_Snap my fingers_

_Snap my fingers_

_Oh, oh, 'cause I'd rather be anywhere else_

_Anywhere else, anywhere else, anywhere else but here_

_I'd rather be anywhere else,_

_Anywhere else, anywhere else but here_

The flash of a bright light extracted Samuel from his soft singing of the tune he'd put on replay the last time he'd listened to it. The song pretty much defined how he was feeling.

Samuel's eyes snapped open, darting every which away until they landed on a girl standing at the front row with a camera in hand. He blinked at her, trying to remember where exactly he'd seen her at. "Um…what are you doing?" He asked as he leaned forward to peer at her.

The girl's cheeks colored a bright pink as she lowered her camera, giving him an apologetic smile. "Sorry…I was looking for my friend and she told me she was in the auditorium…and she's obviously not here now…"

"You mean Hannah?"

The girl nodded. "Exactly. You're that guy who came with her to Cameron's house last week right. Samuel right?" Samuel nodded as he suddenly remembered that that was where he'd seen her at. Her name was Alyssa if he recalled correctly and she'd been the girl with the notebook.

"So what's with the camera? Spying on Vocal Adrenaline?" Samuel asked teasingly.

"Hey," Alyssa started to say, holding her hands and the camera up innocently. "I'm a photographer, not a cheater. I was seriously just looking for Hannah. Instead I found you singing…and you looked…peaceful I guess. If it makes you feel better it's a really good picture, but I'll delete it if you want. Some people don't exactly like having their picture taken." Samuel almost didn't catch was she was saying because she was talking ninety to nothing, an obvious sign that she was getting nervous.

Instead of replying he jumped down from the stage, brushing his pants off. "So you came all the way to Carmel to find Hannah who's not here. What are you going to do now?"

Alyssa opened her mouth to speak, looking flustered as she tried to think of something, _anything_ to say. "I-I honestly don't know. I'm probably going to go home."

Samuel offered her a smile as he ambled over to her. "That's boring. It's Saturday night. Shouldn't you be out partying?"

"Well," Alyssa began to say, rolling her eyes. "I'm not exactly a partier. And _this_ is coming from the boy spending his Saturday night practicing for glee of all things."

Samuel chuckled. "I guess we're both boring people."

"Obviously."

"How about this Alyssa, I need a break and _you_ need something to do right?" The girl shrugged her shoulders, giving him a wary look as he walked to stand beside her. "Why don't we go to the café in town?"

Samuel watched Alyssa carefully then. He barely knew this girl so he wasn't sure what he was doing. He needed a break from singing. Right now he just needed somebody to hang out with even it was somebody he didn't know all that well. Plus he could always use another friend. "You don't seem like a creeper or anything so…sure. Sounds good to me."

* * *

><p>Cameron tapped his fingers on the diner table, earning himself an annoyed look from his mother. He ceased his tapping. "Sweetie are you alright? You haven't said a word all night? Did something happen at school?" His mother's warm brown eyes were looking at him curiously now, expecting him to answer soon.<p>

But to tell the truth, Cameron didn't know _how_ to answer. He didn't know how to explain to his mother that it was bothering him that Damian had been ignoring him since Thursday. Was Damian _really_ that mad just because he'd sang the duet with Marissa? "Damian…he's sort of ignoring us…"

"Us?"

"Me, Alyssa, and Marissa." Cameron replied as he took a sip of his iced tea.

"Do you know why he's ignoring you?" His mother asked, tucking a strand of dark blonde hair behind her ear as she gazed at him questioningly.

"Yeah…" Cameron muttered. His mom gave him a look that told him to continue so he did just that. So Cameron went on to explain Alyssa's plan, adding in how exactly it had gone wrong, and who had pointed it out in the first place. His mother listened intently, always the best listener in the family.

"Well…so you both like this girl? Marissa?" When Cameron nodded his mom sighed. "Cammie I've been in a situation like this before. When I was your age I liked the same guy my best friend did. I knew she liked him, but I asked him out anyway. He said yes and she got mad at me. Anyways what I'm trying to say is not to let a girl come in-between your friendship with Damian. Okay?"

Cameron nodded then, thinking about what his mother had just told him. She was right, of course. He shouldn't let Marissa come in-between him and Damian so that was something he'd have to fix. If Damian would listen to what he had to say.

**Songs:**

Anywhere Else But Here~ Simple Plan

_A/N~_

_Okay so I'm updating again! We finally got hi-speed back! WOOT! Anyways…I'm not going to have time to answer back to your reviews, BUT I'm going to get that in next chapter. I'll answer then I promise! I'm just in a hurry. Oh and there's a slight possibility of seeing more songs by Simple Plan, because what can I say? I love them. :D_


	13. Guilty

**Chapter 13**

Lindsay walked inside the dimly lit café with Damian trailing behind her. There was music softly playing in the background as the couple headed to a booth near the back of the café. This had always been her favorite place to come when she attended Carmel High, but ever since moving to Lima she barely got the chance to come here. Which was exactly why she'd insisted they come here instead of Breadstix.

After sitting down Lindsay smoothed her skirt, and then pinned her eyes on the dark haired boy sitting across from her. Damian had one elbow propped on the table, his hand cupping the side of his face. He looked…thoughtful she supposed, if not still a little hurt. "So…" Lindsay started to say, suddenly aware she really didn't know _what _she wanted to talk about. Her voice trailed off and she felt a spark of disappointment when he didn't pick up where she'd left off. Instead Damian kept staring off into space, looking vaguely upset. She was just about to open her mouth to start an actual conversation when a laugh captured her attention. Lindsay's eyes snapped over to the source of the sound because it was a familiar laugh, one she heard often in the art room. At least before the thing that had happened Thursday.

Lindsay found Alyssa sitting at a table just a few feet away from them. She was sitting with a familiar dreadlocked boy, laughing at something he was saying. _Why didn't I see them before?_ Lindsay asked herself as she watched them. _What's _she_ doing here in the first place?_ The sudden urge to march over there and ask just that overcame her, but Lindsay made sure to remain seated. Damian had shown no obvious sign of seeing his…ex-friend?….so Lindsay saw no point in telling him that she was here.

Lindsay's phone vibrated, sending Lindsay jumping in surprise. Damian cast her a curious look, but didn't comment as she pulled the phone out. Once she saw who it was who'd text her she rolled her eyes. It was Rachel Berry of all people, reminding her for the tenth time that day that they needed to go over their duet one last time before Monday.

"Who was that?" Damian asked.

Lindsay's eyes shot up as she deleted the text, answering quickly. "Rachel is bugging me about practicing out duet for Monday. She won't shut up about getting it 'just right'." As soon as the word 'duet' left Lindsay's mouth she almost instantly regretted it. Damian's face fell and his eyes wandered off again. "But anyways…" Another laugh interrupted Lindsay's train of thought and she once again looked over at Samuel and Alyssa. Shouldn't her and Damian be doing that? Laughing and talking without any awkward pauses or saying something upsetting?

A sigh passed by Lindsay's lips as she placed her cell phone on the table and looked back at Damian. "So Damian what…are you interested in?" Lindsay wanted to _slap_ herself for asking such a stupid question.

Damian glanced back over at her, his mind finally returning to earth as he straightened up, tapping his fingers on the table. "I like soccer."

Now _that _came as a surprise. _How ironic._ She thought wryly_. The boy I like probably has more in common with my family than I do._ "Really? My older brother Daniel loves soccer. Did you know McKinley used to have a soccer team? But then they cut the program because they sucked. I think that was around the time Sue Sylvester was hired. From what Daniel tells me, it was her fault they cut the program in the first place." There went her babbling. But she never would have guessed that Damian liked soccer. Then again she didn't really know him all that well.

"Oh really?" Damian was only looking vaguely interested which was a surprise to Lindsay. She'd figured if she talked about something he liked then he'd join in on the conversation and _then_ maybe everything wouldn't be so awkward between them. But apparently that wasn't the case.

* * *

><p>Alyssa was actually having a good time. It was nice, just hanging out with Samuel, and getting to know him better. After only being at the café for about thirty minutes she could say that he definitely he wasn't boring. "So if you hate Vocal Adrenaline so much why don't you just quit?" She finally asked the question that had been bugging her for a while.<p>

Samuel stirred sugar into the coffee he'd been drinking without raising his eyes to look at her. "I love singing, and I don't really want to quit the one thing I love doing. Besides I figure that it'll get easier."

A smirk formed on Alyssa's lips as she glanced back down at the cup of French Vanilla cappuccino in her hands. "That makes sense." Alyssa muttered, photography coming to mind. Why had she quit if she loved it so much? She suddenly looked up with a grin on her face. "But from the way you talk about Jesse…well it doesn't seem like it going to get easier."

Alyssa earned herself a small smile, and an expression fell over Samuel's face, one that told her she was probably right. "Maybe so…."

Alyssa cast her eyes around the café, it honestly didn't seem that busy, but that was the way she liked it. She hated going places when they were overrun with people. "What!" She honestly didn't _mean_ to let the word slip out of her mouth, it was just…impulsive.

Samuel raised an eyebrow at her, twisting his head in the direction she was looking. "What is-"

"No! _Shh!_ Turn back around!" Alyssa said hurriedly, making a wild motion with her hands as she attempted to get the boy to turn his head back around. What on _earth_ were Lindsay and Damian, of all people, doing here?

"What's wrong?"

"It's Lindsay and Damian." She muttered under her breath, taking a quick peek over at them. Lindsay was chattering away whilst Damian sat there, looking uninterested and completely spaced out. Alyssa leaned over a tad bit farther so she could try to get a better look.

"Don't you think you're being a little obvious leaning over like that?" Samuel teased, raising his eyebrows at her.

Alyssa's eyes flickered over to him, a blush spreading across her freckled cheeks. She muttered something under her breath as she straightened herself up. "Hmm…"

"I take it you see somebody you know?"

"Got that right." Alyssa retorted, sneaking another quick peek at the couple sitting in the booth not too far off. How had she not seen them earlier? Had she _really_ been having that good of a time?

Samuel craned his head in just the slightest to get a good look behind him. When he caught sight of the couple his eyes widened. "What's Lindsay doing here?"

"You _know_ her?"

Samuel nodded as he twisted back to face Alyssa who was sitting there, gapping at him. "Yeah, we were friends…well sort of friends. We were all in Vocal Adrenaline together."

"Well…it's weird seeing those two here together. Damian doesn't like Lindsay." Alyssa commented aloud. She didn't really mean to, it just sort of popped out of her mouth like a lot of things seemed to be doing these days.

"What?" An expression of confusion fell over Samuel's face as he chewed on his bottom, furrowing his brows as well.

"Damian likes Marissa, not Lindsay…but apparently Lindsay likes Damian…and Cameron likes Marissa who likes Cameron and not Damian." The words slipped from her mouth in a rush. Samuel looked a little less confused in her opinion, but there was still a slight trace of said confusion etched along his face. Alyssa could understand why though. It _was_ all quite confusing.

"And where exactly do _you_ fit in in all of that?" Samuel questioned, genuinely curious as he watched the fidgeting girl.

A sigh passed Alyssa lips because she really wasn't sure where she fit in. "The friend? No…I honestly don't know anymore. At first I _thought_ was getting Cameron and Marissa…like together and stuff…but _then_ Damian found out about something that happened…something _I_ set up so he's mad at _all _of us now. But he wouldn't have found out if Lindsay wouldn't have said anything to him."

"Ah. That makes sense." Alyssa's eyebrows shot up at the hint of sarcasm laced around the few words Samuel had uttered. He cracked a grin at her and said, "Well maybe it doesn't make a lot of sense…"

"Hmm…How can I put that in simpler words?" Alyssa mused as she twirled a strand of her dirty blonde hair around her fingers, staring off into space for just a moment. "Let's just say that I screwed it all up. I should have minded my own business."

"Well…_technically_ it's not your fault." Samuel reasoned. "It wasn't like you knew Damian had a crush on Marissa so you're not really up for blame here. Neither is Cameron or Marissa."

Alyssa pondered that for a moment. Samuel _did_ have a point. It wasn't necessarily her fault, not entirely. Sure, she _really_ shouldn't have lied to Damian in the first place. She actually felt guilty about lying to him because not only was she a horrible liar, but she hated doing it in the first place. But the real question here was, would Damian accept her apology?

* * *

><p>Cameron scuffed his shoes on the sidewalk as he ambled down the dimly lit streets. He was getting closer to Marissa's house now, that much he knew. The way to her house was practically ingrained into his mind, not that he would admit that out loud. If Marissa ever found out that he used to walk past her house trying to gather up the courage to actually go and ask her out…well that would be embarrassing for him.<p>

What was he doing right now? She was probably in bed asleep anyways. _Snap out of it Cameron_. He scolded himself mentally. _You've gotta do this…no matter how much you don't want to_.

Either for the sake of his guilty feeling conscience or to save a friendship that did mean a lot to him, he wasn't sure. But his mom had been right. No matter what Cameron didn't need to let a girl come in-between his friendship with Damian.

Cameron lifted his head, the light from the streetlamp glinting off his glasses as he stared at the house sitting not too far off from him. The white, two-story house was familiar to him as he _had_ walked past it…a _lot_ in the daily walks he'd taken…past this house…on purpose.

The lanky boy checked his cell phone. It was just seven thirty six so she would more than likely be up. He typed in a quick message to Marissa, one telling her to meet him outside, and then he slipped his phone into his pocket and waited.

* * *

><p><em>AN~_

_Okay so shorter chapter here, but ONLY because this was written in a hurry (if you can't tell -_-). I swear to you guys I'm going to try to update at least once a week, so please don't give up on me? Blame high school. My junior year is gonna be so busy! It makes me cringe at the thought of what my senior year's gonna be like…_

_On the bright side I passed my Algebra II quiz….with a 64...but HEY it's passing…_

_How IS everybody? Like seriously? Tell me…or else…because I wanna know how you guys are doing? Who else has started school? Is it as stressful for you as it is for me? I mean…it's my third week back and I'm already stressing about like…everything…_

_Now! Onwards to replying to reviews. I promised I'd reply to chapter 11 reviews as well as 12...so I'mma do that so I can go to bed…_

_**Chapter 11:**_

_**natural disaster: **__Well I'm glad you like it. And don't worry Alyssa has a purpose…I just haven't quite gotten there yet…but I'll tell you…Alyssa hates country music…she like…despises it…as of which you will all discover in a few more chapters…well…I just sort of told you I guess…but that's not the point. Thanks for the review though I appreciate it! :D_

_**lucywatson:**__ Thanks for reviewing again! You have no idea how much all of your reviews mean to me, even the smaller ones. =) _

_**brandogriffin: **__I know how you feel…I feel sowri for Damian too. And yes…shame on Cameron and Alyssa…Haha. And I'll definitely try to keep up the good work, Hey I'm glad you think it's good! _

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx: **__IKR! I love Chasing Cars and I was listening to it and I was all like…"Hey…this would be a good song for Cameron and Marissa to sing…". 8th__ grade? Wow…I remember 8__th__ grade…that was a very bad year for me. I'm a junior this year so after next year I'll be off to college! It's unbelievable._

_**htf: **__Don't worry…I wasn't completely planning on making her one…but that doesn't change the fact that I don't like her. :D_

_**Chapter 12**_

_**JustVisiting: **__Wow I'm seriously glad you ended up liking it and I'm uberly glad you don't think she's a Mary-Sue! Aw…I wish I had a little sister like Alyssa…that'd be cool…only she'd have to be younger than me…my sister is nothing like Alyssa…if only…Lol. I'm definitely seeing what you're saying about Cameron and I'm definitely going to work on that! _

_**staceymajace: **__Glad you think it's a great story! And I know…I feel sorry for both of them too…_

_**Sunny side of cookies: **__I don't like Lindsay either believe me, but I love Damian, he reminds me of cute little puppy dog for some reason. _

_**jfgjb: **__So…yeah…I'm not completely planning to make her one…but…everybody _does_ have their bitchy moments…believe me I had one the other day…but that's because of that annoying kid…grrr…_

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx: **__'I'm Just a Kid'? I'll have to go look that up asap! I actually only recently got into Simple Plan, but I love them now. _

_**wormyrug: **__Thanks, and believe me I know much hasn't been happening. I'm fighting writer's block like crazy right now…_

_So…that's everybody! And like mentioned above I really AM fighting writer's block which is why this chapter wasn't that great…or the last chapter. Filler chapters and all…not much has happened…don't worry though…that changes…_

_Oh and what are you guys thinking of the whole Samuel/Alyssa thing? Any thoughts? Suggestions? Questions? I promise I don't bite...not hard..._


	14. Last One Standing

**Chapter 14**

Marissa was staring at her ceiling when her phone vibrated, indicating that somebody had text her. Her hand shot over to her phone which was lying on her bedside table and she lifted it so she could see who it was from. She wasn't surprised to see that it wasn't Alyssa or Damian. Alyssa hadn't text her all day or Friday, and Damian still wasn't talking to her and Marissa honestly didn't know what she'd done.

But the text was from Cameron, and _that_ she didn't mind. So Marissa threw her legs over her bed and stood up, slipping her shoes on as she did. She made sure to grab her thin hoodie on her way out because fall had begun to creep up on Lima, Ohio. On her way down she stuck her head in the living room to tell her parents she was going out for a quick walk, and then went on outside.

Marissa strolled down the walk-way that led from her house, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her black jacket. Her eyes flickered everywhere, looking for the familiar lanky boy. The duet they'd performed came to mind, causing her cheeks to heat up despite the chilly wind hitting them. Alyssa getting them to practice for _their_ duet suddenly made sense after that, and apparently their 'plan' had worked out accordingly…minus the part where Damian got mad at them. But the ridiculous part was that Damian was mad at _all_ of them, not just Alyssa and Cameron. Now he'd gone on a _date_ with Lindsay, at least that had been according to Lindsay's last Facebook update.

"Hey." Marissa jumped in surprise as Cameron's voice interrupted her musings, and to tell the truth, scared her. "Looking for me?" He teased as the ginger spun around only to find herself face to face with Cameron.

Marissa smiled shyly. "Actually I think _you're _the one looking for me." She retorted as she glanced up at him, taking note of the way his face suddenly transitioned from the teasing expression to a more solemn one. Marissa's brows furrowed, her smile disappearing from her lips as she herself took on a more serious air. "What'd you need to talk to me about?"

Cameron offered her a smile, one that looked more forced than anything. "I wanted to talk about us."

"Us?" Marissa questioned, her heart racing.

Cameron bit his bottom lip, sticking his thumbs in the pockets of his skinny jeans as he began to rock back and forth in place. "Well…I just…" Cameron's eyes darted around every which way as if he were searching for the right words to say. "I don't think we should…I mean…I know we haven't…but…" Cameron ran a hand through his messy hair, mussing it up even farther. "What we _do_ have…I don't think we should…continue with it. We should _just_ be friends."

Marissa stared up at Cameron, not quite believing what he was saying. They all went through the trouble to get them to sing a duet, he was now telling her that he just wanted to be friends?

She found that she was having difficulty swallowing. Her eyes were burning, but she didn't know why. Why should she care if he just wanted to be friends? So Marissa forced a nod and said, "Y-you're right…just friends…" She hated the way her voice trembled and she mentally slapped herself for that. But why the sudden urge to _just_ be friends? Was there something wrong with her? Was she not good enough for him?

"Marissa I-" Cameron started to say, but Marissa held a hand up to stop him.

"No, seriously Cameron, I-I understand. Um…I've gotta go, my mom told me to come back home soon…so I'll see you at school Monday." Marissa's words came out rushed, but she didn't care. She swerved around Cameron, ignoring the fact that he was calling out her name as she power-walked back to her house. Tears pricked at the corners at her eyes, but she refused to let them flow, at least not until she was hidden away from everybody else.

Marissa pulled the front door open, pulling it closed behind her as she immediately shed her jacket, tossing it on the coat rack, then removing her shoes as well. "I'm home!" The red head called out, rushing up the stairs without waiting for her mom to respond in any way. No need for her mother to worry about her anyways. Besides, Marissa didn't really want her mom to see her crying.

Instead of going straight to her bedroom she walked into the bathroom, the tile cool against her bare feet. Marissa stared at herself in the mirror, pondering what was wrong with her. Thinking it over she was brought back to old times, times when she'd wondered the same thing a lot more than she was now. Times that had brought on bad habits, habits that seemed like they were returning.

Marissa twisted the knobs of the sink, watching as the water rushed from the facet, hopefully creating enough noise in case her mom came up to check on her. Then the sixteen year old girl lowered herself in front of the toilet, wishing she knew what she'd done wrong.

* * *

><p>Monday afternoon a tension hung over the younger members of the Glee club and Rachel was sure she wasn't the only one who noticed. Cameron and his friends had all separated themselves, making her wonder what exactly had gone on there. Lindsay and Damian were sitting together, which seemed odd to Rachel. Marissa had moved to sit with Quinn, the two girls chatting quietly although Marissa didn't seem as into the actual conversation, it was more as if Marissa was looking for a distraction. Cameron and Alyssa seemed to be the only two who was still actually sitting with each other, but Alyssa was staring off into space whilst Cameron actually looked like he was deep in thought.<p>

Rachel raised an eyebrow, but she wasn't going to question it, not now at least. The only reason she'd jump in was if it interfered with their chances to win the upcoming sectionals. "Okay guys, we've got a lot to do today!" Mr. Schuester walked into the auditorium, the place they'd decided to have their meeting for today. "Lindsay and Rachel still have a duet to perform and we need to discuss this week's assignment."

Rachel groaned inwardly at the mention of their assignment. She wasn't overly fond of the song Lindsay had suggested, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other options the younger girl had thrown in there.

Rachel stood up, walking towards the stage, head held high despite the fact it was Mr. Schue's fault she was having to sing with the freshman girl.

Lindsay, however, seemed much more sour about the situation than Rachel did. Or maybe she was just having a bad day. Either way Rachel didn't really care. "We're going to be singing '_Last One Standing'_ by Simple Plan." Lindsay said into the mike as she took it from its stand.

Rachel took the other mike in hand, tapping her foot to the beat of the song as the band began to play. Since Lindsay had chosen the song, Rachel had _insisted_ that she start the song off.

**{Rachel}**

_How many times are you gonna try to shut me out?_  
><em>I told you once, told you twice I ain't turning back around.<em>  
><em>So if you ever try to mess with me, I don't care, I'm not scared.<em>  
><em>You don't have to say you're sorry save your sympathy.<em>  
><em>With a friend like you I don't need an enemy<em>  
><em>I would give you time if you were worth it<em>  
><em>But guess what (guess what) not worth it.<em>

**{Together}**

_Woah woah I'm always gonna be the last one standing_  
><em>Woah woah because I'm never gonna give up trying<em>  
><em>And now I'm ready to go, I'm here I'm waiting for you<em>  
><em>And I'm gonna be the last one standing<em>

**{Lindsay}**

_Did you think that I would surrender easily?_  
><em>That just like that, you could get rid of me.<em>  
><em>Is that the way you saw it all come down?<em>  
><em>I don't think, I don't think so.<em>

Rachel was surprised at how much emotion Lindsay seemed to be putting in the song as the two girls began to circle around each other as they sang.

**{Lindsay}**

_There's not a word you say that I haven't heard before_  
><em>So give it up, give it up<em>  
><em>Unless you want a little more<em>  
><em>You think you're pretty tough so lets throw down<em>  
><em>It's alright, I'm alright<em>

**{Together}**

_Woah woah I'm always gonna be the last one standing_  
><em>Woah woah cause I'm never gonna give up trying<em>  
><em>And now I'm ready to go, I'm here, I'm waiting for you<em>  
><em>That I'm gonna be the last one standing<em>

_I won't give up, I keep trying, _  
><em>Always gonna be the last one standing<em>  
><em>It's not over, I keep fighting<em>  
><em>Always gonna be the last one standing<em>  
><em>I won't give up, I keep trying<em>  
><em>Always gonna be the last one standing<em>  
><em>It's not over, I keep fighting, I keep fighting<em>

_Woah woah I'm always gonna be the last one standing_  
><em>Woah woah cause I'm never gonna give up trying<em>  
><em>And now I'm ready to go, I'm here, I'm waiting for you<em>  
><em>That I'm gonna be the last one standing<em>  
><em>Yeah, I'm gonna be the last one standing<em>

_Woah woah last one standing_  
><em>Woah woah last one standing<em>

Both girls were breathing heavily, staring each other in the eyes. Lindsay's blue eyes held a challenge, one that surprised Rachel because she was reminded of herself. Rachel stared straight back at the younger girl, her dark eyes just as serious as Lindsay's. Applause from their audience broke Rachel's attention and she turned towards them with a big smile plastered on her face. Lindsay copied her movements, although she didn't smile. "That was _great_ girls. Don't you see what you can do when you work _together_?" Mr. Schuester made sure to add emphasis to the word 'together'.

"You're right Mr. Schuester." Rachel enthused with a bright smile, although it was obvious to Lindsay and the other glee members that it was fake. Rachel and Lindsay both made their way off stage, separating to go sit apart from each other. Mr. Schuester could make them sing with each all he wanted, but there was no way in hell he could make them be friends with each other.

Rachel sat down in her seat beside her boyfriend, Finn, and smoothed her skirt out. "Okay guys, I know we don't cover a few genres as much as we _should_, so I was thinking this week we could cover country songs." There were a few sounds of enthusiasm, whilst others in the glee club didn't look too pleased. Especially Alyssa who had paled at the mention of country music. "I want you all to pick a country song, you can do duets or group performances if you'd like, but you don't have to. Okay guys…I guess that's it for today. I'll see you tomorrow at rehearsal." Mr. Schuester dismissed them and the teens all stood to take their leave.

**Featured Songs:**

_Last One Standing~ Simple Plan_

_A/N~_

_Bwuhahaha! Ahem… -_-'_

_Anyways…onwards…with the…authors…note…._

_Tell me…how did I do with the whole Marissa/Cameron thing? I wanted to fit Lindsay and Rachel's duet in, despite the fact that the Duet arc is…like finished. I feel kind of stupid for not putting it in earlier…eh…what can you do? But! Country music…Hehe…so any good country songs you'd like to hear? Like seriously I might need help with songs for…country because I don't listen to country songs myself. I only own…like three. 'Put You In a Song' by Keith Urban, 'If I Die Young' by the Band Perry, and 'Stronger Woman' by Jewel…but that's all. Although I do have this one song…it's called 'Country Song'…but it's by Seether…who's rock…not country…_

_Ah…so…awkward moment…_

_Poor Marissa =( _

_Now! Onwards…if you're not interested you can skip this. -_-'_

_Has anybody else heard that song 'Moves Like Jagger' by Maroon Five and Christina Aguilera? It seems to get on like…everybody's nerves but I LOVE that song. Hehehe. _

_I hate chemistry, I should mention. My teacher is like this…smart aleck, and I don't like him at all. We take notes all the time, he told us the first week of school we'd probably fill one or two THICK notebooks up by the end of the year. I thought he was kidding until we actually started taking the notes, and it's only the third week of school! When I saw how many notes we had so far and that we were supposed to memorize them I was like WTF! It's crazy shiz… O.o_

_**rebhe:**__ I'm glad you love it…but I'm not commenting on the second part. ^_^_

_**natural diaster: **__Very awkward in deed. And I'm definitely thinking about playing around with the Samuel/Alyssa thing…_

_**wormyrug: **__Ikr! Lol thanks for reviewing! :D_

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx: **__I HAVE heard it and it's a great song! Love Simple Plan, of course I'm going through a Pierce the Veil phase right now…Anyhoo…thanks and good luck to you too. And you said in one of your reviews that your starting eighth grade? *sigh* My eighth grade year passed by in a blur…_

_**ToTheReviewerWithNoName: **__Lol sorry…I saw your review and saw no name and I was like 'Nooooooooo!' Well…maybe I didn't do that, but you get the point. Thank you for reviewing though, it's like greatly appreciated. As for Sam/Alyssa, yes like I said I was thinking of playing around with that, and then…well I can't say anything else…no use in revealing future plot ideas. ;)_

_So I realize that I owe you guys a oneshot…or two on 'To Move On Is To Grow' and I PROMISE I'm going to get that to you as soon as I can. I've been a busy girl here lately…ah…the life of a junior. Oh and BY the way if your on Figment you should follow me…link is below. If you don't know what Figment is…well it's awesome. You need to check it out because there's some pretty good stories on there. *clears throat* Anyways…_

_Just remove the spaces and the (dot) part..._

_http:/ figment (dot) com / users / 4 9 8 7 5 - Sage - Pierce_


	15. Making Up

**Chapter 15**

Damian was on his way to his sixth period class when he was intercepted by a familiar short girl, a girl he hadn't spoken to last Thursday. "What do you want?" Damian asked warily as he stared down at Alyssa who was looking up at him. He wasn't as angry with his friends as he had been, but he was still hurt about it all, mostly because they had lied to him about the whole thing instead of telling him the truth.

Instead of answering him out loud Alyssa uncapped a black dry erase marker and began to scribble away on a small, rectangular dry erase board that she'd probably gotten from Wal-Mart. Damian raised an eyebrow at the objects in her hand, wondering why she was doing that, but at the same time not really caring. Alyssa held the erase board up so he could see the two words she'd written on it. It read, _I'm sorry._

"For what?" Damian asked as he raised his eyebrows, wondering if Alyssa would own up to what she'd done.

Alyssa erased what she'd written before furiously scribbling across the board, biting her lip the whole time. After a few seconds passed she held the board back up. _Everything. I'm sorry I lied to you about…well all of it. It was wrong, and very stupid of me to do. I failed as a friend. So will you forgive me?_

Damian stared at the board for a few moments, contemplating his next move. He was tired of not having anybody to talk to at lunch because he really didn't enjoy Lindsay's company as much as he should have been. That was because he was too busy sulking over the whole situation. "Fine, you're forgiven, but don't _ever_ lie to me like that again."

A grin lit Alyssa's face up as she wrote something else on the board before showing him again. _Thank you! You have no idea how horrible I've felt about all of that! _

"Um…why aren't you…you know…talking?" Damian asked, confusion flashing across his face.

She wrote something else on the board after erasing the previous statement. _I lost my voice…_

"Your voice was working perfectly fine yesterday." Damian commented as he glanced around the emptying hallways. He was probably going to be late for his next class, but right now he didn't particularly care.

Alyssa bit her bottom lip as her eyes darted around before she scribbled on the board _again_. _These things happen…The real question here is what the hell were you doing on a date with Lindsay?_

"Were you _spying_ on me?" Damian asked, his eyes widening as he read what she'd written again. He hadn't told _anybody_ except for his mum about that date.

His friend scrambled to write something down, perhaps thinking he'd get mad at her again without allowing her to explain. _No! I swear I wasn't! I was there with a friend!_

"What friend?" Damian pondered.

Alyssa sighed as she wrote down what he supposed was a name. She then turned the board back around, eyebrows raised as if to say 'Are you happy now?'. _Samuel. The guy that came to Cam's house that one time. I'll explain…when I get my voice back. Now explain yourself._

"I'll explain myself when you get your voice back. The board thing is annoying."

_You have no idea_. Alyssa wrote hastily. _Now I gotta get to Art. See you at Glee rehearsal this afternoon._

Alyssa then swerved around Damian to head in the opposite direction he'd been going right as the tardy bell rang. Upon hearing it Damian groaned. He was officially late for class, but he didn't really mind. He was sure Mr. Schuester would let him off this once.

* * *

><p>That afternoon when Marissa walked into choir room she was ready to sing. She couldn't really think of anything else that would honestly make her feel much better, so she'd found a country song she could sing for her glee performance. Marissa had thought about asking Alyssa to do a duet with her, but apparently said girl had lost her voice. In just a day. Which was suspicious, yet Marissa wasn't going to question it.<p>

Her gray eyes scanned the choir room, wondering where she was going to sit at today because she honestly didn't know if she could deal with sitting with Cameron. It seemed that sitting with Alyssa was out of the question too because she was seated beside him and Damian. Apparently they'd both made up with Damian and Marissa had half the mind to go apologize herself even though she hadn't really even been involved in their little plan. But instead Marissa ambled over to where Quinn was sitting and sat beside her. In truth Marissa had always, in a way, looked up to Quinn. After all she'd been through, the pregnancy, losing her place as top dog, being kicked out of her own house, she'd still managed without doing anything stupid.

"Hey Marissa." Quinn greeted the younger girl with a small smile, which Marissa happily returned.

"Hey." Marissa said, eyes scanning the room only to find Mr. Schuester walking into room. "Okay guys are any of you ready to perform?" Mr. Schuester cast a hazel eyed gaze around the choir room, disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm that seemed to fill the room today.

"I'm ready Mr. Schue." Marissa stood up, brushing her skirt off before heading to stand at the front of the room in front of everybody. All eyes pinned on her, but she wasn't bothered by it in the least. "I'm going to be singing _Temporary Home._"

_Little boy, 6 years old _  
><em>A little too used to bein' alone. <em>  
><em>Another new mom and dad,another school, <em>  
><em>Another house that'll never be home.<em>  
><em>When people ask him how he likes this place... <em>  
><em>He looks up and says, with a smile upon his face, <em>

_"This is my temporary home _  
><em>It's not where I belong. <em>  
><em>Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through.<em>

_This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going.  
>I'm not afraid because I know this is my<br>Temporary Home."_

_Young mom on her own.  
>She needs a little help, got nowhere to go.<br>She's lookin' for a job, lookin' for a way out,  
>Because a half-way house will never be a home.<br>At night she whispers to her baby girl,  
>"Someday we'll find our place here in this world." <em>

Marissa was doing beautifully so far, her voice resonating throughout the entire room. Everyone's eyes were pinned on her, especially two certain boys who were flat out staring at her. But she paid them no attention because she wanted to get all of the drama off of her mind and just _sing_.

_This is our temporary home.  
>It's not where we belong.<br>Windows and rooms that we're passin' through.  
>This is just a stop, on the way to where we're going.<br>I'm not afraid because I know this is our  
>Temporary Home."<br>Old man, hospital bed,  
>The room is filled with people he loves.<br>And he whispers don't cry for me,  
>I'll see you all someday.<br>He looks up and says, "I can see God's face."_

_"This is my temporary Home  
>It's not where I belong.<br>Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through.  
>This was just a stop,on the way to where I'm going.<br>I'm not afraid because I know... this was  
>My temporary home."<em>

_This is our temporary home. _

As soon as Marissa finished singing the glee club burst into applause and Marissa grinned. She loved the applause; it made her feel _better_ than she had in days. "That was great Marissa. Anybody else?" Marissa went to sit down. Alyssa shot her a thumbs up, although unable to say anything because she'd lost her voice. She gave her friend a thank-you nod as she took her recent seat beside Quinn.

* * *

><p>Emily pranced into the auditorium, her dark eyes scanning the room until they landed on the few Vocal Adrenaline members who'd stayed after rehearsal. Samuel, Bryce, and Hannah were all sitting on the edge of the stage, chatting away and probably talking about Jesse's tough run through of their Sectionals performance. She placed her sunglasses on the top of her head as she sauntered over to them, hips swinging all the while. Her eyes glued themselves to Samuel who was sitting in-between Hannah and Bryce, looking much more care-free than he had in weeks.<p>

"Hey Emily." Was Samuel's idea of a greeting. Just a simple 'hey' like always. He never seemed overly enthused to actually see her unlike Bryce who winked at her as soon as their eyes met.

But Emily just ignored Bryce, because she didn't want him she wanted Samuel, who was completely uninterested. "Jesse's pissed at you." Hannah commented, a goofy grin still playing on her face from their earlier conversation.

"Jesse can kiss my ass. I've had _enough_ of his stupid rehearsals." Emily huffed, putting one hand on her hips.

"I feel ya. It's almost enough to make me want to transfer to McKinley." Bryce joked, but neither Samuel or Hannah laughed about it.

"We have friends there…" Hannah said. "They say that glee club is _fun_." She emphasized the word fun because around here the concept of _fun_ was nonexistent.

"Yeah imagine that." Bryce snorted, leaning back as he propped himself up on his elbows.

"So I was thinking we should all go and do something. Something fun." Emily pinned her eyes on Samuel, raising her eyebrows at him as she waited for their answer. She secretly hoped that Hannah and Bryce wouldn't want to come, but she knew Bryce. He'd want to come and Hannah probably would too.

"Actually Samuel and I are having a movie night with our friends from McKinley. Cameron's supposed to be here in a few minutes." Hannah declared, shooting down Emily's hopes of going out with Samuel.

Bryce, however, turned his gaze on Emily, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "I'm up for some fun."

Emily pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. "In your dreams. Well…some other time then." The sound of the auditorium door opening and shutting pulled Emily's attention away from the trio sitting in front of her. She let her eyes lazily wander towards the source until they landed on a tall, lanky boy who had walked in with two other people trailing shortly behind him. She peered a little closer, taking note of the brunette boy and the short girl walking alongside him holding what looked like a small dry erase board in her hands.

"Cameron what you guys doing in here? I told you we'd meet you outside." Hannah chirped, confusion flickering across her face before disappearing completely.

The boy with the glasses smirked. "We've been waiting for you for about fifteen minutes. I tried calling you several times so I figured I'd come and find you." Cameron shuffled his feet as he looked around at the others, nodding in greetings. "Hey, I'm Cameron." He said, acknowledging Emily and Bryce.

"I'm Damian." The brunette had an accent that Emily easily placed as Irish which _was_ pretty cute, but he didn't particularly seem like her type. Neither did Cameron. "And this is Alyssa." Damian smirked down the girl he'd introduced, earning himself a fake glare.

The girl with them rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Instead she moved forward, pulled out a marker, and scribbled across the board before holding it up. Emily leaned to the side so she could see the board better until she caught sight of the words Alyssa had written. _I lost my voice._

Samuel snickered. "How'd you do that?"

An innocent look fell over Alyssa's face as she shrugged her small shoulders. She gestured with her hands though, towards the auditorium doors. "I think she's trying to say we need to leave." Damian offered, a smile forming on his face.

Alyssa nodded enthusiastically, a smile alighting her own face as Hannah and Samuel hopped down from the stage, the two going to stand with the trio. "We'll see you guys tomorrow." Samuel waved a hand at them as they all began to walk out o the auditorium. Emily watched them go. She watched Samuel walk alongside Alyssa, chatting to her despite the fact she couldn't actually talk _back_ to him and she wondered why on earth he couldn't do that with her.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Featured Songs:<em>**

_Temporary Home~ Carrie Underwood_

_A/N~_

_And I realize I'm a big jerk. BUT I swear I haven't not updated in a while for a reason. You see at first it was school, which is still hectic. But the real reason I haven't updated is because my dad had a heart attack the past week, BUT no worries, he's doing fine now. _

_Emily and Bryce FINALLY make an appearance. I know it took me FOREVER but I figured it was time, especially considering I've been focusing a lot on the same characters for a while. But we'll be seeing a lot more of Emily and Bryce especially. *evil look*_

_**Love-what-is: **__Lol thanks! I'm glad you think it's awesome. :D_

_**Death by Fallen Star: **__Aw thanks. I hope you've gotten to feel better and I'm uberly happy you think I've done a good job so far. And believe me I hate country too. I'll listen to just about anything including some rap, but I just don't like country at all. I'm more of a rock/alternative person. :D_

_**Soann-chan: **__Ikr! I felt sorry for Damian too…but it had to be done…_

_**xXkurtxblaineXx:**__ Wow…that's a looonnngg list…but thanks a lot! I don't know a lot country songs so it's really appreciated! _

_**Slushies And Red Vines: **__Haha! I used Temporary Home like you suggested. :D_

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx: **__Lol don't apologize I spazz about fifty percent of the time. Every Friday we play a game in World History to review what we've learned. What we do is throw paper balls into the baskets and whoever makes it answer the question our teacher asks and I get super spazzy and hyper when we play. Anyway! Boondocks…I will lookles this song up ASAP!_

_So I'm super happy I have amazing reviewers who listen to country music…Otherwise I'd be lost…_

_Now what did you guys think of this chapter? I tried to make it a little longer than the last one. =)_


	16. Country Song

_**Chapter 16**_

* * *

><p>By the time Friday rolled around most of the glee members had performed their country song, minus Damian and Alyssa. Of course Alyssa was still claiming that she'd lost her voice. Marissa had casually strolled into the choir room that afternoon only to find all of the glee members gathered in a circle, chatting animatedly about Sectionals and what song they'd all be performing.<p>

Marissa took a seat beside Quinn, something she'd been doing all week. Her friends hadn't really questioned it, mostly because she still hadn't spoken to them although Alyssa had attempted to get her to sit with them during lunch Tuesday, but she'd told her she'd rather not. It wasn't that she was mad at them, that was the complete opposite because truthfully she longed to hang out with them again. But after her conversation with Cameron she wasn't quite sure if she was comfortable doing that just yet. Plus Cameron just always seemed to be around Damian and Alyssa.

But Marissa decided not to ponder the problem much longer because at that very moment Mr. Schuester walked into the room, surveying the scene with his eyes, one eyebrow quirked in curiosity. He sauntered on over to the circle of teens, quickly joining on in the conversation, contributing to song suggestions and just talking about Sectionals. After a few moments Mr. Schue ushered everybody to their seats, trying to calm the excited teenagers down. "Okay guys, before we talk about Sectionals we need to finish up with this week's assignment…so Alyssa it seems Damian's not here so you ready?"

Alyssa's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously, scribbling on the board to tell him that she was still voiceless. After giving the younger girl a skeptical look Mr. Schuester turned back to the rest of the teens with a smile on his face. "Okay guys-"

Right at that moment the door to the choir room swung open to reveal a semi-familiar boy with dreadlocks walked into the choir room. Marissa caught Alyssa's mouth drop open as he strolled into the room, thumbs hooked into the pockets of his skinny jeans. Silence fell across the choir room as the boys eyes scanned the room, landing on Mr. Schuester who was also giving him a curious look.

"Oh shit!" The two words broke the silence that had fallen across the room and everybody directed their gaze towards the girl who had been silent all week and who had just claimed to be voiceless a few moments ago. Alyssa was holding a half empty bottle of water, most of which happened to be dripping from her face. Cameron bit his bottom lip and looked away, obviously trying not to smile. A few others let out amused chuckles and the boy with dreadlocks even let out a laugh.

Mr. Schuester pinned his eyes on Alyssa, it was all Marissa could do _not_ to laugh, and gave her a stern look. "Alyssa I thought you said you lost your voice?"

"Uh…" Alyssa rubbed the back of her neck, glancing around the room awkwardly until her eyes landed back on Mr. Schue. "That's sort of a funny story…you see…" Alyssa sighed. "I just _really, really_ hate country and I figured I could get out of it…if I lost my voice."

"Well why don't you come up and perform for us right now?" Mr. Schuester asked, gesturing towards the front of the room and giving her an expectant look.

"I…um…don't know any country songs." Alyssa muttered under her breath as she averted her eyes, looking anywhere but at Mr. Schuester.

"Well…can anybody help her out?" Mr. Schue asked as he cast his eyes around the choir room, looking at them expectantly.

Somebody cleared their throat and it turned out to be the boy with the dreadlocks whose name Marissa couldn't quite remember. "I'll sing with her." "Who exactly _are_ you?" Rachel asked curiously, her brown eyes scanning the boy.

"Samuel what are you doing here?" Lindsay spoke at exactly the same time Rachel did as she too was looking at him in a careful way.

A smile played on his lips. "I'm considering transferring to McKinley. It's just a thought though. It depends on if I can talk my parents into letting me." Samuel shrugged his lean shoulders then gestured towards Alyssa. "We gonna do this or what?"

"Do you even _know_ any country songs?" Alyssa asked as she stood up to saunter on over to join Samuel in the front of the room while Mr. Schue moved out of their way.

"Of course I do…sort of. You'll recognize the song, don't worry." Samuel flashed her a quick smile before going to talk to the band for a few moments. Alyssa looked around the room, meeting Marissa's eyes for a moment. Marissa offered her an encouraging smile and then a thumbs up. She was trying to encourage her friend the best she could. She just hoped it worked.

Samuel walked back to stand by Alyssa right as the music began to play. Marissa had a feeling that this wasn't an actual country song because it sounded like an acoustic version of a rock song.

**{Samuel}**

Well I can't stand to look at you now  
>This revelation's out of my hands<br>Still I can't bear the thought of you now  
>This complication's leaving me scared<p>

Stay when you think you want me  
>Pray when you need advice<br>Hey keep your sickness off me  
>Tryin' to get through<br>Blame all your weakness on me  
>Shame that I'm so contrite<br>Hey keep your fingers off me  
>Why can't I get through<p>

By the way Alyssa's face lit up when she heard the first two verses of the song Marissa must have guessed right because there was no way it could have been an actual country song. Marissa wasn't even sure if her friend _knew_ any country songs.__

_You think you have the best of intentions  
>I cannot shake the taste of blood in my mouth<em>

**{Together}**

(Hey) I keep on thinking that it's  
>(Hey) All done and all over now<br>You keep on thinking you can save me, save me  
>(Hey) My ship is sinking but it's<br>(Hey) All good and I can't go down  
>You got me thinking that the party's all over<p>

**{Alyssa}**_  
>Well I can't stand to be with myself<br>This liberation's seemingly rare  
>And I can't stand the taste of your mouth<br>This sublimation's outta my hands_

You stay 'cause you think you want me  
>Pray when you need advice<br>Hey keep your sickness off me  
>I'm tryin' to get through<br>Shame you could take this from me  
>Pain on an empty mind<br>Hey keep your fingers off me  
>Why can't I get through<p>

**{Together}**_  
>(Hey) I keep on thinking that it's<br>(Hey) All done and all over now  
>You keep on thinking you can save me, save me<br>(Hey) My ship is sinking but it's  
>(Hey) All good and I can't go down<br>You got me thinking that the party's all over_

**{Alyssa}**_  
>Lay down<br>Just stay down  
>Lay down because I'm trying to get through<em>

**{Samuel}**_  
>Say what you want, but you're not gunna win this time<br>Take what you want, but just leave me alive  
>Say what you want, but you're not gunna win this time<br>Take what you want, but just leave me alive_

**{Together}**__  
>(Hey) I keep on thinkin' that it's<br>(Hey) All done and all over now  
>You keep on thinking you can save me, save me<br>(Hey) My ship is sinking but it's  
>(Hey) All good and I can't go down<br>Still you believe that we can start it all over__

**{Samuel}**_  
>Lay down<br>Just stay down  
>Lay down because the party's all over<em>_  
><em>

**{Together}**_  
>Lay down<br>Just stay down  
>Lay down because I'm trying to get through<em>

When they were finished Alyssa was smiling slightly before giving Samuel a quick hug. "Was that even a country song?" Rachel asked after a few moments.

"Sort of. The name of the song is _Country Song_." Samuel supplied easily, resting his arm on Alyssa's shoulders, therefore receiving a quick glare from the shorter girl.

Mr. Schuester sighed. "I guess that'll work. Samuel your free to stay for the rest of our rehearsal and watch. Maybe it'll help convince you to transfer to McKinley. Now…let's talk about Sectionals…"

* * *

><p>Lindsay couldn't quite believe Samuel was at McKinley. After hearing he was male lead of Vocal Adrenaline she would have figured he'd want to stay there instead of coming to McKinley. Then again she couldn't admit she was <em>too <em>surprised. There weren't many people who could handle the pressure Jesse put on them. Jesse was the type of person that wanted you to get something perfect on the first try.

But she also wondered if something was going on between Samuel and Alyssa. After seeing them at the café in Carmel she'd been asking herself the same thing over and over.

It wasn't that she was jealous, because she had no interest in Samuel. In fact she was still hung on Damian who didn't seem as interested in her as she would have liked. What Lindsay was worried about was that Jesse would use Samuel to find a way to beat New Directions. Jesse was indeed devious enough to do something like that because he wanted to crush New Directions.

Lindsay had thought about approaching Alyssa after glee rehearsal, but she'd decided to wait until Monday. Of course she wouldn't be surprised if Alyssa still wasn't talking to her. She had surprised Lindsay by steadily ignoring her in art all throughout the week. Lindsay never would have guessed Alyssa would have been able to hold a grudge as long as she had so far, but she also figured that Alyssa was the type to forgive easily after overcoming her anger.

A scowl twisted her coral lips at the thought of Jesse and his inevitable scheming. He'd been quiet the past few weeks, but that was probably because he was planning something. Lindsay just wasn't sure if she was prepared for whatever that was.

* * *

><p><strong>Featured Song:<strong>

**~Country Song by Seether**

_A/N~_

_Another short chapter because I'm a loser. :/ And I swear the next chapter will be longer and I promise I'll try to update a lot faster this time. You just have no idea how busy schools been. Between that, marching band practice, football games, and my dad not feeling well…I just really haven't had time to write. _

_But first off…did anybody else love Glee Tuesday? I loved Quinn! I thought her new look was really cool. Lindsay's character was…interesting too I guess…Personally I can't wait to see Samuel and Damian's characters… =)_

_Anywho leave me a review, tell me what you thought of this short chapter, and what you'd like to see in future chapters? Help me defeat evil writers block. ;)_

* * *

><p><em><strong>xXkurtxblaineXx: <strong>__Hehe Alyssa didn't really lose her voice…But I'm glad some of you listen to country…because I don't…_

_**Slushies And Red Vines: **__Haha your welcome. :D_

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx**__: Glad you liked it! And see she didn't really lose her voice…she's just a bad kid. O.o_

_**Soann-chan: **__And your impression is correct! Don't worry your not crazy. It's me that's crazy. :D_

_**Death by Fallen Star: **__Thanks and your review isn't crap! I always look forward to any reviews! And you stayed up to midnight to read my story? Aw…Thanks you though it means a lot to me!_


	17. How You Love Me Now

When Marissa walked into the choir room Monday afternoon she suddenly wished she'd decided to go home. Rachel and Lindsay were having a stare-off and it seemed like neither girl was winning. "I told you all hell was going go break loose." Marissa heard Alyssa mutter to either Damian or Cameron as she strolled by the trio. Of course she wasn't quite sure what boy she was speaking to, but she still turned her head to stare down at the girl she hadn't spoken to in about a week.

"What happened?" Marissa asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Rachel found out that Lindsay's getting the solo for Sectionals…and she's sort of mad." Alyssa explained, gesturing towards the two girls just to prove this.

"Honey she's not just mad, she's _pissed_." Mercedes contributed to the conversation. She'd obviously heard what the two younger girls' were talking about; otherwise she probably wouldn't have said anything. "But if you ask me Lindsay deserved it. She owned the audition song." Hearing about an audition for Sectional try-outs was new to Marissa. It was definitely the first she'd heard about it.

"I'd appreciate it if my fellow Glee members _wouldn't_ talk about me like I was standing five feet from them." Rachel said loudly enough for the whole club to hear. She fixated them with a threatening look and then added. "Besides I'm positive Mr. Schue made a mistake." Marissa was almost positive that she was trying to reassure herself more than the rest of them, but decided _not_ to mention that.

"Yeah. _That's_ what it was. A _mistake_." Puck muttered from where he sat. He was a few seats away from where Cameron was sitting, but he was loud enough for them to hear.

A few snickers followed Noah Puckerman's comment, but Rachel seemed to outright ignore them as she sat down in a chair beside Finn. Marissa watched as she sat straight up, crossing her legs and folding her hands together. Finn and Rachel began to converse in hushed voices, completely tuning the rest of the glee club out.

Marissa started to walk away from the trio, seeking out an empty seat among the rest of the teens, away from Cameron. But before she could make it even two feet, a cold hand wrapped around her wrist and yanked her backwards, forcing her back into a chair. "You know," Alyssa started to say, just a slight hint of amusement decorating her voice, "It really hurts my feelings that you never want to sit with me."

The red heads mouth fell open and then instantly clamped back shut. She was absolutely unsure of what to say to her best friend. She stared at Alyssa for a moment, watching the other girl's inquisitive eyes scan her face. What was she supposed to tell Alyssa? That she forced herself to throw up every night because she was so ashamed of her body? That she didn't feel like she was good enough for the one boy who'd she'd dreamed of being with since as long as she could remember?

A smile suddenly broke out across Alyssa's face and she lightly punched Marissa in the arm. "Chill out. I was _joking_." But Alyssa's smile seemed to disappear just as quickly as it had come. "But seriously Marissa, what's been going on? You've been kind of distant."

Marissa pondered the thought of telling Alyssa, admitting to her what had been going on and the thoughts that had been running throughout her head the past week or so. She could almost imagine the chaos that would ensue, or the look of look of disbelief or disgust that would form on her friend's face. She didn't really want to face that, not after the last time.

So it was her luck that Mr. Schuester walked into the choir room, saving Marissa from further explanation. Saving her from having to lie right to her friend's face.

"Okay guys so as you know-" Mr. Schue sighed then, noticing that Rachel's hand was stuck straight in the air. "Yes Rachel?"

"Mr. Schuester I believe there was a mistake of who got the solo for Sectionals." The whole room minus Finn groaned then, shaking their heads in disbelief. Surely Rachel could have accepted the fact that she hadn't gotten to part for Sectionals if _Mercedes_ could. The older girl actually even seemed to be _supporting_ Lindsay; although Marissa had a feeling it was to spite Rachel.

"Rachel there's wasn't a mistake. Lindsay really got the solo part." Silence fell over the room. Marissa risked a glance at Rachel who was staring at Mr. Schue in something along the lines of disbelief. Lindsay didn't exactly look smug, _but_ she did seem rather pleased that the situation had been 'smoothed over' if that's what you'd call it. Rachel's face flushed a brilliant red, from anger or embarrassment Marissa wasn't sure. Either way it wasn't a total shocker when she stood up to stride right out of the choir room, slamming the door as hard as she could manage.

* * *

><p>Later that day Alyssa found herself waiting outside with Damian. The two were waiting for Samuel to pick them up. Originally they'd been going to Samuel's house, <em>but<em> their plans had changed so they were going to Alyssa's instead.

"So…" Damian started to say, glancing over at Alyssa. "You and Samuel?"

Alyssa's cheeks flamed bright red and she cast her eyes downward. "No w-were not dating."

"Uh-huh. So you were randomly at the same café Lindsay and I were at huh?"

She turned narrowed eyes on Damian. "Hey I was there because I didn't have anything better to do and that was when I barely knew Samuel. But _you_ mister have some explaining to do yourself. Like why the hell you were there with _Lindsay_ of all people."

"O-oh…_that_."

"Yeah _that_." Alyssa pursed her lips, raising an eyebrow at Damian who was looking everywhere but at her.

"Huh there's Samuel. Guess we should go." Damian cracked a grin at Alyssa and it was obvious he was trying to avoid the subject as he slipped away from her to climb into the backseat of Samuel's truck. Alyssa rolled her eyes before heading towards the truck herself, climbing in the front.

"Hey Samuel." The words popped out of her mouth as she slammed the truck door shut behind her, instantly buckling herself in.

"Hey guys." Samuel greeted the two of them, reaching a hand out to turn the volume of the radio down. Alyssa, however, had other ideas because her hand shot out to stop him.

"Wait! I like this song!" She said, grinning as she tapped her foot to the beat of the song.

**{Alyssa}**

_You were talking to her_

_But messing with me_

_It's finally clear_

_You're blurring the lines_

_Are you disturbed?_

_Oh, now you care_

_Why do you race through my red lights?_

_Can't understand_

_I'll slow it down for you_

"Come on Samuel, _sing_." Alyssa urged, smiling over at him as he drove down the road. At first she wasn't sure if he would but then he opened his mouth and began to belt the lyrics right along with her.

**{Together}**

_Tell me how can you sleep?_

_How can you breathe?_

_Baby tell me how_

_How you love me now_

_Tell me how can you sleep?_

_How can you breathe?_

_I hate when you say_

_How you love me now_

**{Alyssa}**

_Save_

_Save it for he__r_

_I'm not gonna hear_

_Your reasons and "please-just-take-me-backs"_

_We never were right_

_Don't waste your breath_

_You crashed and you're on your own tonight_

_Can't understand_

_I'll slow it down for you_

Alyssa paused in her singing, suddenly remembering when she could have easily related to this song. Her brows furrowed as if she were deep in thought. Why had this suddenly come to mind? Just because of this one song?

She chewed on her bottom lip, casting a gaze outside for a moment as she watched the scenery pass by. The girl barely caught Damian giving Samuel directions to her house. Samuel reached over, poking her in the arm with a finger, and raised an eyebrow at her.

Alyssa's lips stretched into a smile, perhaps not the most convincing smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. Samuel grinned back at her before turning back to keep his eyes on the road as he continued to her house. Still, watching him and the way the sun cast shadows across his face, she couldn't help but think to herself that in the end he wasn't anything like _him_. Samuel, well he was a much better guy.

Then again what did she know? She obviously hadn't known enough to tell a lot of things back in her old home.

_A/N~_

**_Mentioned Songs_**

_How You Love Me Now~ Hey Monday_

_*quickly hides behind couch* I'm am soo sorry. I haven't exactly abandoned this story…I suppose I just got so caught up in school (which does come before my writing in the end) and then everything else that I forgot to update…_

_Well if any of you are still here…you probably all gave up on me T_T_

_Anywho…so I don't have Oxygen but I'm in Arizona at my brothers and I've been catching up by watching it online….and must I say…I am quite liking the 2__nd__ season so far….so much that I'm thinking about incorporating a few of them into this story. _

_Thoughts? Opinions? I have new ideas though…new plot twists for this…please don't give up on me yet! Lol…_

_**PinkyMinky3~ **__I will-er…I can't reveal what will happen in future chapters….O.o_

_**xxBlaineXKurtxx~**__ CUPCAKES! O.O And YES I love Harry Potter =)_

_**xXkurtxblaineXx~ **__Haha I'm glad you liked the idea of her not really losing her voice :D_

_**Soann-chan~ **__Samuel is a genius ;D Nah I'm not a big fan of country…or too big on rap…or dubstep…BUT I will listen to Hunter Hayes/The Band Perry. But thanks for the review!_


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